Liberation
by callmemeiko
Summary: Meiko's an old friend of Takashi and she's about to make a huge impact on the life of Han Lue. Han/OC. Rated mature for later chapters. Please read and review!
1. Chapter I: Meiko

The Tokyo skyline towered over the streets, the traffic, the nightlife. Lights flew by from the cars below, streets filled with people rushing to their destinations. Tokyo was a place of adventure, culture, and beauty. But to Han, it was the fast cars, fast girls, the lifestyle and of course, the street races. The streets lined with racers and racer chasers dressed skimpily for all the attention Tokyo could offer to them.

It was just another night for Han. Another race, another model, it was always the same. Taking a swig of his beer, he turned to Twinkie, who was off trying to hit it off with another racer chaser, again. Scanning the crowd, he spotted Takashi, speaking intently to a much shorter girl. Although he couldn't see her face, she wasn't dressed like the other racer chasers. She had on ripped dark blue denim shorts with a white, lacey tank top, and black pumps, making her legs go on for miles. She had a Chinese tattoo too difficult for Han to decipher from a distance, which was also partially hidden behind her deep brown hair, which flowed down to the small of her back.

"Who's that tiny thing?"

Twinkie inquired, looking curiously at Han. He only shrugged, still staring at her. Parting from Takashi, she gave him a quick hug, in turn, he leaned down to kiss her forehead. She turned around to walk away, leaving an annoyed looking Neela behind. Being able to see her clearly, she was beautiful, having strikingly large hazel eyes, giving her an innocent look. Yet, when their eyes met, he knew she was anything but. Slightly altering her direction, she purposefully walked towards Han, seeming to look past him.

"This car yours?"

Han got up off his car, gesturing for her to have a look. Tossing another chip into his mouth, he studied her as she popped open the hood of his Nissan Silvia. Before she got a chance to inspect the car, Twinkie came yelling,

"Aye aye, careful with Han's Mona!"

She looked from Twinkie to Han, eyes twinkling, she giggled, "You named your car … Mona?"

Twinkie's arms were flailing at this point.

"Han built this baby from the floor up. You know, the car's like the painting, the Mona Lisa, ya know? It's a work of art, baby girl." She nodded knowingly before turning to Han.

"Name's Han."

She held her hand out for him to shake, introducing herself as well.

"I'm Meiko. I promise to be careful upon inspecting … Mona."

Seeing as she wasn't a threat, Twinkie gladly introduced himself to her before leaving to go flirt with a new girl. Giggling, she bent back down to inspect Han's car, giving him a perfect view of her from behind. It was odd, he was so used to women throwing themselves at his feet that for someone to shake hands with him threw him completely off his game.

"Meiko!"

She whipped her head up, looking to the source of whoever was calling out her name. It was Takashi, holding up Morimoto, battered, looking completely beaten. "He was reckless, decided to race against –" Meiko cut him off by flat out ignoring him, "Lay him down flat on the floor by Han."

Takashi instantly looked up, from me to Meiko, staring at me wearingly, but complied. She ran faster than I thought anyone could in 5-inch heels to Takashi's car, grabbing a box out of his trunk, before sprinting back to kneel by Morimoto. She kicked off her heels and immediately placed Morimoto's head on her lap; she grabbed various bottles and bandages out of her kit, getting to work.

Morimoto slowly opened one of his already bruising eyes, "Sorry, Mei." Smiling half-heartedly, she shook her head as she poured some rubbing alcohol on his wounds. Hissing in pain, she rolled her eyes.

"See, this is what you get for not listening to me. You reckless shit." He laughed slightly before coughing fits took over as she worked faster to wrap bandages around his head before taping it up.

"Now you listen to me, you are not racing until your wounds are healed, and that is when I say so."

Working on the wound on his torso, someone started yelling out, "COPS!" causing everyone to scatter in a panic. Morimoto scrambled up before nearly collapsing. One of Takashi's men picked up Morimoto to drag him away. Takashi had grabbed Neela in the hustle, yelling at Meiko to go with him. But Takashi had brought his two-seater, meaning he could only take one person with him, it was Meiko or Neela. Meiko shook her head, "I'll be fine."

"I'll take her."

Takashi whipped his head to Han, taking in a deep breath before nodding and running off with Neela to his car. Meiko turned to him and slid into the passenger seat as he sped out of the parking lot. Weaving through Tokyo traffic, Han turned to Meiko, "So you and Takashi, what's the deal?"

"We're just friends. Old friends."

Han nodded, accepting the answer. "So why haven't I seen you around the races before?"

"Maybe you just weren't looking. I'm usually around. Turn on the next left."

Han complied, never taking his eyes off of her. She smiled before shaking her head, "Eyes on the road, hot shot." He smirked, turning his line of vision back onto the road. Giving him more directions, they finally arrived at her apartment. Getting out of the car, she realized she was bare foot. She left her heels in the parking lot!

"Ugh, I really liked those heels. They were my favorite."

She pouted in disappointment. Han laughed and got out of the driver's seat, walking over to her, and picked her up bridal style.

"There you go, princess."

She stuck her nose up haughtily in a joking manner, "Of course, my knight in shining armor! To save my feet from the wrath of the endless sea of pebbles, what ever shall I do to repay such a favor?"

Han liked her sense of humor. Carrying her inside the building, she pressed the elevator button to the fifth floor. Getting to her door, Han placed her gently back on her feet. It was then that he really noticed how tiny she was compared to him. He was about 6'2; she was definitely a foot shorter than him. She noticed his staring, "I'm 5'1. Want a drink?"

Why not? So he stepped inside her apartment, noticing his surroundings. It was modern yet cozy. There were white Christmas lights lining the light mint walls. Fashion magazines were haphazardly strewn across the coffee table with a book open on the couch along with a Macbook. She looked to him and handed him a beer,

"It's small, but I like it. It's home."

With that, she plopped down on the lush, leather beige couch, looking up at him. Han was awkwardly standing there, not knowing what to do. She rolled her eyes, "Come on, and sit. I won't bite." Patting the spot next to her on the couch, he finally sat down and leaned back into the leather.

They talked about random topics until he saw she was getting drowsy.

"Come on, it's time for you to go to sleep. I'm gonna head out."

He got up off the couch and started for the door.

"Thanks for the beer. I'll see you around." She nodded sleepily, and closed the door.

He would definitely be seeing her soon. There was something about her, he couldn't place his finger on it, but whatever it was, he liked it.


	2. Chapter II: Goodnight, Princess

Meiko's POV

Walking to work a few days after, I couldn't help but think of the mystery that is Han. I had woken up to a worried voicemail from Takashi the other day, asking where I was, if Han got me home safely, if Han tried to do anything to me. Basically, he wasn't a huge fan of Han. I've heard a few stories of the infamous womanizing Han here and there from some racer chasers I talked to whenever I went to the races, I didn't need to hear it from Takashi as well. Yet, being with him the other day, he really didn't seem all that bad. He almost seemed lost, and sweet.

I sighed, stepping into the hospital, not expecting too much in the day. I'm an Emergency Room Nurse. Whenever someone was sent into the ER, that's where I got to work, which is why Takashi usually has me patching up his men whenever they were hurt. Anybody even slightly affiliated to the Yakuza do not like stepping foot into the hospital, anything related to the law, contracts and documents of the sorts are almost taboo to them. Because of that, I was the solution to injured gangsters not entering the hospital.

"Mei."

I looked up from my desk to find Takashi leaning against the door, giving me a warning look, which translated to "We need to talk." Sighing, I grabbed my pager and got up to follow him as we began our walk around the hospital.

"Mei, I know you won't listen to me no matter what I say, but Han's bad news. He's a notorious womanizer, and I'm sure you already know that. So just, be careful. I don't want you to get hurt, not like last time."

I shuffled my feet as we walked, knowing fully well what he was talking about. My ex-boyfriend, Kai, was abusive and it took me ages to realize that I didn't deserve to be in such a relationship. I understand it now, but Han didn't seem to be the abusive type. But then again, neither did Kai.

"I know you're looking out for me, Takashi. You always have, and there's never a day that goes by that I'm not grateful for it. But I'm a big girl now. I've grown since then. You know that."

Takashi could only nod, trusting me to make my own decisions. Twiddling my fingers, I looked down at my feet, not knowing what to do. This was so new to me, having someone new in my life. Takashi lifted my chin up to face him,

"No matter what, know that I am here for you, Mei. Always. You will let me know if anything happens, alright? Anything."

I could only nod mutely. The amount of emotion Takashi was showing me was a rare sight to behold since he usually has up a stoic exterior. It was nice to see. He smirked and nodded approvingly, "Good. I have some errands to run. I'm racing in a few days. Show up."

Of course he was back to his usual haughty self again, I knew he wouldn't keep it up for long. "I'll see you then." With that, he strode away confidently, off to do God knows what.

Before I could think about anything else, my pager went off, signaling that there was a patient that needed tending to in the emergency room. Work was non-stop for the next 12 hours, leaving me completely drained. I really hated my job sometimes. Hours were long, I was constantly exhausted, and it just never ended. But hey, whatever pays the bills. It was already midnight; I could still grab some dinner. Lifting my bag up, my arm screamed in protest from all the work I put it through today. On a second thought, instant noodles will suffice.

Plugging headphones into my iPhone, I started for my way home. Staring up at the skylines, it made me realize just how small I really was. The music ran through my veins as I was walking. There were only a few people wandering the streets at this hour, it was a Sunday. But I realized I was wrong as I heard the roar of a powerful engine over my music, drifting from down the block. Taking off one side of the headphones, I looked to the source of the noise, only to spot a Mazda RX-7, with Han in the driver's seat.

He sped towards me, sporting a mischievous grin as he drifted around me a full 360 degrees, only to continue for another 3 turns, leaving a large ring of smoke in his wake that I could hazily make out my surroundings. He rolled down his window, reaching his head out, signaling to come over. Rolling my eyes, I took my time striding over to the passengers side where the windows were already down. Leaning down from the passenger's side, I peered in at him.

"Was that supposed to impress me?"

"Yeah. This is the part where you give me your number, princess."

He smirked, handing over his phone to me. I couldn't help but laugh at his confidence. Nevertheless, I entered in my number, tossing it back to him. With that, I got up and went on my way. I didn't even get two strides away before he yelled out,

"Now this is the part where you get into the car and I take you to dinner."

I whirled around back at him, raising my eyebrow. "Oh really, is that right?" He only stared, our eyes boring into each other, his gaze was unwavering. I couldn't take it anymore. With an exasperated sigh, I walked back to where his car was, opened the door, sliding into the smooth leather seats.

"Happy?"

He only smiled, "Much better, now."

He was already insufferable, and I was in his car for less than ten seconds. As he kept driving, I studied his features. He had a sculpted jawline and high cheekbones. His eyes were focused intently on the road, but even from the side, I could tell his eyes were mesmerizing, a gaze that could just smother you from its intensity. I was studying him so much that I completely blanked out to what he was saying.

"Sorry, what?"

"I asked you where you wanted to go eat, princess."

I scrunched my nose at him calling me princess, again. I shrugged, too exhausted to even process a thought of coming up with a place to eat. I'm pretty sure I looked like shit too. "You decide. I'm a pile of goo right now. I just want to melt into your leather seats. So comfy." I leaned further into the leather seats, relishing in the cool temperature.

"So what were you doing out in the streets so late at night?" He inquired.

"Just got off a shift at the hospital. I could ask the same for you."

"Oh, you know. This and that," waving it off nonchalantly. "So you work at the hospital?"

"Yeah, ER nurse. Late shifts are common, but I've been trying to get the early shifts so I can actually sleep like a normal human being, or at least attempt to, anyway."

He shook his head, "You should really get some rest. I know a really good place to grab a quick bite to eat."

And he was right. It was a quaint little restaurant that looked very warm and it just felt like going to your grandparents' house. It was obvious that he came here often, what seemed to be the owner greeted him like an old friend before ushering us to our seats. Smacking Han on the back in greeting, causing his body to jolt slightly, he looked over at me, "Who's this pretty girl, Han? Girlfriend?" He winked at me playfully.

Han looked at me sheepishly, "Kent, this is Meiko. Meiko, this is Kent. Can we eat now?" Kent laughed boisterously, his large stature shaking as he laughed, nodding as he walked to the kitchen to prepare our meals. Sitting down, I immediately went to grab the paper wrap off the chopsticks, folding it into a tiny chopstick holder. Han looked at me oddly.

"Old habit. Here, I'll even make one for you too."

As I was folding his chopstick holder, Kent came out holding stacks of delicious smelling food. I was going to be so full after this meal, most definitely. Han had already begun stuffing his face with various foods. I couldn't help but stare, but he caught my gaze.

"What?" It came out a bit more gurgled since his mouth was completely full. Waiting patiently, I let him swallow before I continued.

"It's nice. What you're doing for me. You really didn't have to, you know."

"I'm taking you to dinner, this isn't exactly a 5 star restaurant."

I sighed exasperatedly, "I know. But you don't even live close to here. Doing this is so out of your way. Kashi told me you live near, if not in your garage, and that's like, on the other side of the earth."

Han looked at me blankly, "You're tired, and what's wrong with wanting to do something nice for you? I don't mind, why should you?" He raised his eyebrow as if to dare me to counter him, when I didn't say anything, he just stuffed more food in his mouth.

"Fatty."

"I'm tall because I eat so much. You, not so much. You're a munchkin. A smurf. An elf. A mini person. A –"

I cut him off, "OK, I get it, thank you. You're still being fat."

We kept talking about cars after that until his phone rang. He looked down at his phone and furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'm gonna take this, I'll be right back. Sorry."

I nodded as he ducked under the mini curtain, stepping out onto the street to lean against his car. Swirling the noodles around my chopsticks, I noticed Han didn't look pleased as he was on the phone. I wonder if he took other girls here, the models he was usually with were obviously much more attractive than me. They were definitely taller to match his tall build. I looked like a child compared to him, and that made me feel small. Really small.

"So, you and Han?" came a voice from behind me. It was Kent.

I shook my head, "We're just friends."

Kent chuckled, "I don't think so, young lady. In all the years I've known Han, I have never seen Han bring a woman here. You must mean a great deal to him."

"You really think so?" I murmured, looking thoughtfully at Han. Seeing that Kent and I were speaking, Han threw us an odd look, but I waved him off with my chopsticks.

"Trust me, Meiko. I've known Han for a very long time. I would know. So try to keep him out of trouble, alright? The boy attracts it like he's a magnet."

I smiled, bemused. "I'll try my best, Kent. No guarantees though!"

He waved his hand as he went back to the kitchen just as Han got off the phone. My eyes automatically searched for his once more, wondering if what Kent said had been true. He slid back into his seat, and squinted at me,

"What did Kent tell you?"

"He says I'm clearly more attractive than you."

He snorted, poking my forehead. "Yeah, yeah. Finish your food, munchkin. I need to bring you home so you don't collapse into your noodles."

I stuck my tongue at him and finished my food so he could drive me home.

Getting to my apartment, I stepped out of the car.

"Got your shoes today? I'm surprised."

I rolled my eyes at him, making an audible noise of disgust at him. But it was sweet of him; he walked me back to my apartment.

As I turned around to say thank you, I was met with his chest, my back hitting the door. Peering up at him curiously, there was a look in his eyes I couldn't identify. His face slowly got closer to mine, tilting my chin up to his until our lips met. I tippy toed, locking my arms behind his neck, to further the kiss as his other arm wrapped around the small of my back to keep me balanced. We were in this position until we both needed air. He put his forehead to mine, gently placing me down, both feet firmly placed back on the ground.

"Goodnight, princess."


	3. Chapter III: Maliblue

Meiko's POV

A few days later, I got a text from Han asking if I was going to the races tonight. I knew it was a bit juvenile, but I decided not to answer him. Make him sweat a little. Besides, I went to every race. Not many people know it, but Takashi and I are old, family friends. His uncle, Kamata is the leader of the Yakuza. We had an agreement that I would keep his men out of hospital records; in return, he would pay off my medical school tuition. Growing up with them, I really owed them too much. This was the only way that I would agree to let Kamata pay for anything I had nowadays, something he reluctantly agreed to. Despite not being blood related, Kamata was like a father to me, and why should a father have to pay for his daughter to help out family?

Looking through my closet, I had nothing to wear. Well, I did, my clothes took up half of my room, but I didn't know what to wear tonight. A tight black dress would always do the trick should all else fail, and since I wasn't feeling very patient, that's exactly what I would wear. This would have gone great with the black pumps I left at the parking lot. Sighing, I threw shoes out of my closet to find a suitable second choice, which happened to be a pair of royal blue platform heels. Adjusting my makeup till I thought it was decent, I took a deep breath. Sliding into my BMW M3, I made my way to the races.

Pulling up to the races, I instantly saw Morimoto chatting up some racer chasers.

"Racing tonight, Morimoto?"

He had a cocky look on his face till he realized it was me. "Of course not, doctor." Throwing his arm around me, he shooed off the racer chasers. Looking at me disdainfully, they stalked off. Tilting his head to the side, I examined his head wounds. Gently pressing against the healing scar, I pulled his face towards mine and kissed the scar.

"It's fine, Morimoto. I have a feeling you agreed to race some poor soul and cheat him out of his car."

His eyes lit up before he laughed sheepishly, realizing he just affirmed my statement, "You know me too well, Mei. But then again, after knowing you all these years, I'm not surprised. It's still scary though. Thanks for giving me the okay, Doc." Kissing me on the cheek, he ran off excitedly, probably to scare off whoever the racer he agreed to for a car-for-car.

Spotting Han, I walked over, where he was surprisingly … Empty handed. There wasn't a model hanging off his arms. He just had a bag of pretzels, seeming deep in thought. I nodded at Takashi, he lifted his head in Neela's direction,

"Who's the tourist?"

Han threw his hands up in despair, "Man, why you still into schoolgirls? You're movin' up in the world, you gotta elevate your company."

I looked over; there was a Caucasian male speaking to Neela. Seemed harmless enough, but knowing Takashi, nothing was ever harmless. I felt Han pushed the small of my back to follow Takashi towards Neela. Twinkie immediately appeared trying to appease Takashi, "He was just leaving, DK-san." Takashi had said something too low for me to hear, it was clear that this Caucasian didn't speak Japanese, as he so stated. Roughly grabbing Neela's waist, Takashi kissed her neck, "Understand now? ... Gaijin?"

He did it. Of course he would. And of course this guy would try to be all cocky. And there would be no doubt Neela would immediately defend Takashi, telling off this guy when she was clearly into him right before Takashi arrived. Morimoto already had a wrench in hand, twirling it around, ready to throw down if needed. I shot him a quick look, but I knew this wasn't something that was going away easy. Yakuza pride runs deep, insult one, you insult all. And to insult Takashi of all people, the one with the worst temper. Wanting to break it up, Han told Takashi it was time to race.

"Good luck, Timberlake."

"You're the one that's lucky, cause I'm about to race."

"Then let's race."

Please tell me he did not just say that. Takashi laughed for obvious reasons. He's DK, the drift king, and for some out of town nobody to challenge him to a race was comical. But Han threw him the keys to his Silvia. I looked at him like he sprouted a third head, "Are you insane?"

"What? I wanna see what the kid's got."

"Looks like I'm not the one Twinkie has to worry about in messing up Mona."

Twinkie looked at me, back at the Caucasian, he looked absolutely suicidal. Poor Twinkie, just trying to keep people out of trouble. I really hope he knows how to drift. Yet, something told me not to get my hopes up.

"Han, you are out of your mind. That car is a lethal work of art, you cannot just –"

"Calm down, princess. It'll be fine. Glad you think my car's lethal, I wonder what else I can prove to you is lethal." He waggled his eyebrows at me flirtatiously.

"But Han, it's, it's, IT'S YOUR CAR THAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO LET GET SMASHED INTO A CRUSHED BEER CAN. Granted, I like your Mazda better, but still."

He waved it off like it was no big deal, grabbing my waist to sit down next to him on someone's car, to the dismay of the model leaning to his side of the car. Twinkie came back, shaking his head like it was the end of the world. To him, it probably was, he looked like he worshipped the grounds that Mona crossed.

"Sean's gonna fuck up your car, man."

"Well, at least you know the name of the guy who's gonna annihilate your car." I piped cheerfully, looking at Han.

He shook his head, "You guys got no faith."

I sighed, looking at where the race was about to begin. It was so sad knowing that such a beauty was about to turn into a pile of junk in less than a few minutes. I didn't even want to watch the race, I heard it. I heard Han's Silvia crash into the pillar, making me wince. I'm positive a chunk of his car just flew off.

"I can't stay. Let's just walk to the finish line, Han. You know he's going to lose. I just don't know why you would willingly let him take chunks out of your baby."

He tossed another peanut into his mouth before holding his hand out to hold mine, leading me to an isolated elevator, heading to the top of the parking lot. In the elevator, I could hear more crashing, knowing fully well it was not Takashi. When Han was about to take another peanut, I grabbed the bag away from him.

"They're bad for you. Salt dehydrates you like crazy. I'd rather you just have a smoke right now with the way you're being so jittery." I huff, still holding onto the bag of peanuts.

"How'd you know?" He seemed shocked, for reasons I'm unaware of.

I leaned in close to his face, "I'm a doctor, remember?" Our noses touched, and before he could lean in any closer to kiss me, I turned away just as the elevator signaled that we had arrived at the top lot. I pulled him towards the crowd, with an impish smile plastered on my face. As we were walking, he wrapped his arms around my waist, plopping down on another stranger's car, waiting to see the obvious results of the race. It wasn't a matter of who lost; it was a matter of how mutilated Han's car would end up being. When Takashi came out victorious, I couldn't help but smile. He caught my eye in the crowd and gave me a genuine, happy smile. From behind, I could hear Han sigh.

"Are you really surprised?"

It was then I heard the braking, and squealing in the not so far distance. By the time it made its way up to the top, I gasped. It was completely totaled, even beyond my low expectations. He messed it up way more than I anticipated. And judging from the way Han was squeezing my waist; he was thinking the exact same thing. He looked murderous, but finally let go of my waist, patting it gently, apologizing. Interlocking our fingers, he walked over to Sean.

"Don't leave town."

"I don't think he has a choice, Han. Come on, my car's in the lower level."

I could tell he wasn't happy, not in the slightest. Yet, he wasn't as mad as I thought he would be, for someone who just got his car destroyed, anyway. If it were my car, someone would be dead right about now.

"This is my baby. Be nice."

Han circled around my white BMW M3, nodding in approval. I could already tell that he was thinking that a white BMW was such a girly car, but it was pretty and I liked it. Horrible explanation. Fishing the keys out of my pocket, I called out "You look like you could let off some steam. It's not a Han car, but I think you'll like it."

Throwing my keys at him, he grinned, catching it mid-air. Ducking into my car, it felt odd, being on the passenger side. I think it was my first time sitting in the passenger seat of my own car. Turning the key, the engine roared to life, Han speeding out of the lot. Punching at the buttons of my stereo, I finally found the song to cruise to; Maliblue by Darius. By the look on Han's face, I think he liked the song.

The way Han handled my car was effortless, a hand on the wheel and another on the stick shift. I'm not going to lie; I was a little turned on, giving me shivers.

"Turn right here." I ordered. After a few more turns, I got out of the car into a convenience store, emerging with a few cans of Sapporo, a small bottle of Jack Daniels and a large pack of Pocky.

"Let's go." I passed him the mini bottle of Jack, "A baby one for you because you're driving. Sapporo for me because well, I like beer." Feeling giddy, I immediately opened the Sapporo, downing the entire can in less than a minute. Looking down at my empty can, I got out of the car, wobbling slightly over to the recycling bin to toss it out. By the time I got back in, Han was already finished with the Jack, looking completely fine. I pouted; usually just four or five shots of liquor would have me swaying.

"Safe to say, my tolerance is a lot higher than yours."

"It's not fair, you have all that fat to help absorb the alcohol."

I crossed my arms in mock annoyance. Turning to him swiftly, "Drift for me. I want to see how well the famous Han can really drive."

"Better buckle up, baby."

I stuck my tongue out at him, opening another can of Sapporo, simultaneously trying to find the buttons that adjusted the volume because my favorite song was on; Clarity by Zedd. The chorus was coming up and I had that need to just belt out the lyrics, because drunken Meiko likes to sing.

"YOU ARE THE PIECE OF ME, I WISH I DIDN'T NEED.

CHASING RELENTLESSLY, STILL FINE AND I DON'T KNOW WHY.

IF OUR LOVE IS TRAGEDY WHY ARE YOU MY REMEDY?

IF OUR LOVE'S INSANITY, WHY ARE YOU MY CLARITY?"

Making obnoxious hand gestures to Han, I started waving my arms and shaking my head as the beat continued down.

* * *

Han's POV

I couldn't help but laugh as I watched Meiko out of the corner of my eye singing slightly off tune in her drunken stupor after a few cans of Sapporo. It was … Cute. Her flushed cheeks only added to that. Driving to my garage, I noticed nobody was there. Then again, it was nearly 4 in the morning. Everyone was probably sleeping. I got out of the car, with Meiko slowly making her way out, careful as not to fall in her ridiculously high heels.

"UGH. FORGET THIS." I turn around to see her throw shoes off next to the car, walking barefoot towards me, Pocky in her other hand. We walked together to the pier, finding a crate to sit on. She found my lap, equally fine. Ripping open the pack of Pocky, she managed to nimbly pull out a stick, nibbling on it before holding one out for me. When she finished two packs, she nuzzled into my neck. Holding her, I realized how small she was. It made me realize how fragile she was, how delicate she could be. Feeling a soft weight on my shoulder, I look down to see that she dozed off. Lifting her up, I walk back to the garage, where she began to stir, as I was about to put her down on my bed.

"Oh! I'm sorry I fell asleep, I'll go." She murmured tiredly. I shook my head, letting her sit up.

"I'll go grab a shirt for you. Sit tight, princess."

She furrowed her brows, audibly flopping down on my bed in a huff. Digging through my drawers, I finally found the smallest shirt I owned, which wasn't saying much; it probably wasn't even going to come close to fitting her.

"Here. It's probably not going to fit you, but it's the smallest shirt I have around here."

I turned around so she could change. "It's alright to look." Her dress was thrown haphazardly on my desk. But as soon as I spotted her at that moment, I decided there was nothing more stunning than Meiko only wearing my old t-shirt. It was much too large, going down mid-thigh for her, completely baggy and not form fitting in the slightest. Yet, I couldn't look away. Clad in her bra and panties with my oversized shirt, she was gorgeous. Yawning, she crossed her legs like a pretzel, looking up at me with her large hazel eyes.

"Stay."

What else could I do when she asked me like that? Changing into a t-shirt and boxers, I crawled into bed next to her. She instantly curled up into me, breathing in, and sighed. Before I knew it, she had dozed off again.

* * *

SamWarrior & betzz98 – Thank you guys! I'll try to update around once a week! Or whenever I can get my writing done!

Nikki-Nieu – I'm so glad you're hooked! I'll try to update ASAP.

Jess (Guest) – I'm glad you've taken a liking to Meiko's laid-back persona!

Please review, readers! I take all suggestions and criticisms so I can help improve the story for you guys! I'd really appreciate it!


	4. Chapter IV: Radioactive

_**FYI**: The titles of the chapters are usually the song that I drew most inspiration from while writing the story. I'll provide an artist and song title should that be the case in **bold** before starting the chapter. If I don't provide a song title with an artist, the title will just be a significant part of the chapter like my previous chapter "Goodnight, Princess." etc.  
_

**Radioactive by Imagine Dragons**

* * *

Han's POV

I turned, reaching, for something that wasn't there, or someone. The space where she slept was still warm, which meant she left recently. Then I heard the water stop running. Out of my bathroom walked Meiko with a toothbrush in her mouth, wet hair thrown up in a messy bun, face devoid of any makeup. She looked younger without it, more innocent than she already seemed. I studied her face more. That wasn't my toothbrush. I had extra toothbrushes lying around…?

"You had a pack of toothbrushes under the sink."

Oh. Well that explains it.

Replying to a message on her phone, she checked her watch.

"Well, I'm gonna go. Errands to run, places to be, people to see!"

"You're going out without pants?"

She laughed, "Of course not, silly. Walk me out." Following her, she had on different panties. She filled it out nicely.

"Didn't anyone tell you it wasn't polite to stare? And I have an emergency kit in the trunk of my car."

Walking down the stairs to my garage, it was odd. I was usually still in bed at this point, no matter the model. When did Han Lue walk girls out? When did he let her stay over when there was no sex involved? She popped open her trunk, without a care in the world. She pulled out a pair of white denim shorts, wearing the blue heels she had on yesterday. There was something incredibly perfect about her wearing my grey shirt, white shorts and blue heels. I shook my head; this girl was effecting me more than she really should've been. Watching her drive off, I shook my head, stepping up the stairs, going straight back to bed.

* * *

Meiko's POV

I pulled up to the Pachinko arcade where Takashi and Morimoto were upstairs. Leaving my car on the street, I wove through the rows of blinking machines. Why did they have to make their hideout on top of a godforsaken arcade? The incessant noises of the bells and what not irritated me to no ends. Finally getting upstairs, there were girls littering the place, some of the henchmen of Takashi's crew playing mahjong. Noticing me, the men nodded to me, "Mei-san." Everyone knew who I was, but not my relationship with Takashi, but since him and Morimoto held me in high regard, they followed suit. Only a few people in the Yakuza knew of my status.

I was the daughter of the Triads leader in Hong Kong. My father and Kamata were very close associates, family friends almost. So when my father died, Kamata took me in, which was why I was so close to Takashi. Growing up with them, I learned to be fluent in Japanese. But I had gone to New York to study medicine, coming back to Japan to apprentice under an ER nurse, and now, here I am.

"Mei-chan!" Morimoto exclaimed, getting up from his seat to give me a hug. Takashi gave a small nod, furrowing his brows at his mahjong tiles again.

"Get someone to fill my spot for me." He yelled to nobody in particular, but someone filled in for his mahjong spot. I flopped down on the couch, rubbing my temples, exhausted from running errands the entire day. Morimoto came down to sit next to me, handing me a cup of green tea. He knew me too well; we knew each other too well.

At one point, we nearly dated before deciding that it would just be too complicated, that and he's a too young for me. We're still the best of friends; he was just overly flirtatious with me. He's lucky I'm exactly the same way. To the world, he was this huge player, messing with women left and right; fast cars and fast women, which was what this world was to them. But they didn't know how much of a sensitive mush ball that Morimoto was. He was like a little brother to look out after. I drank about half of the green tea, then put my head on Morimoto's lap as he rambled about his day and how he was super amazing at so and so.

I was leaning into Morimoto's hand as he played with my hair, until I patted his hand for him to stop. I got up to go grab a snack, I wonder if they have some dango from earlier. Morimoto went back to the mahjong table, kicking out the guy that took his spot. All of a sudden, the girls and lower ranks were leaving, but Morimoto stayed right where he was. I looked up from behind the fridge and saw why. Han was here with that boy, Sean. Safe to say, Takashi didn't look pleased.

"What's he doing here?" Takashi asked snidely.

"He's paying me back for that crumpled beer can sitting in my garage," Han retorted as he threw down the money for him.

"Hope he's not driving," Morimoto added, taking a sip from my tea.

"Oi, gaijin, when is your next race? I'd really like to be there."

"Why not be in it?" Sean taunted cockily.

"You really a badass, cowboy? Or you just talk like one?" Morimoto sneered lowly, in Japanese.

"Calm down, Morimoto." I chided gently, appearing from behind the corner. He huffed, sucking his teeth, but did nothing. I offered him a piece of my dango, but he declined, sipping my tea instead. As they continued their semantics about throwing down cars, I went to go make Takashi a drink. He usually needed one whenever he was angry. Of course, it helps that I'm a fantastic bartender. Handing him the drink, he took it gratefully.

"Oh, what? So now you got yourself some cutesy little maid too? Where's the outfit?" Sean joked, looking me up and down. This boy really didn't know when to stop, did he?

However, none of the other men at the mahjong table were laughing. I turned my gaze to Sean, intently staring him down. Morimoto started yelling obscene words rapidly in Japanese, throwing his tea at him, effectively soaking his shirt. Takashi seethed, slamming his fist on the table; cracking it slightly before striding over to Sean, grabbing the front of his shirt to get in his face, and before I could stop him, he slugged Sean in the face.

"You speak to Meiko like that again, I will not be so forgiving. You look at her that way again, and that will be the last thing you see. Understand?"

Sean said nothing.

"Do. You. Understand...? Gaijin?" Takashi growled.

"That's enough, man. Let it go." Han chastised.

Takashi turned to glare at Han, growling "I do not take orders from you."

I walked over and put my hand on Takashi's bicep, "It's alright, Kashi."

Rubbing his arm and soothing his back, he finally threw Sean on the ground, going back to sit down. Crouching down, I met him at eye-level,

"You know, you're really lucky this time. You should really learn to respect others; you'll learn that it's a large part of our culture here, especially with this crowd. I advise you to adhere to it and don't chew off more you can handle. It might just get you killed one day." I patted his cheek and smiled half-heartedly, "I think you've overstayed your welcome, you should go."

He looked over at Han who just shook his head, waving for him to leave. He slammed the door in annoyance. With that, they started another round of mahjong. I was never good at the game so I never bothered. It was too confusing for me. With a sigh, I made my way downstairs to walk around. I instantly saw Han's RX-7 outside, and Sean speaking with Neela. Well, that's not a good sign. She caught my eye and abruptly stopped speaking with Sean to head over to me.

"Neela –" I started.

She held her head down, "I know, Mei. I just can't help it."

"Come on, let's go somewhere to talk about it later. Kashi isn't happy right now. Be careful."

I ushered the small of her back in another direction, giving another warning glance to Sean. At this point, Han was down too. Neela made her way upstairs as I walked over to Sean.

"Look, Sean. I'm not trying to be redundant, but Takashi isn't someone you want to piss off. Just because I'm not out for your blood doesn't mean other people aren't. You gotta understand that."

He seemed really lost, "I appreciate this but why are you talking to me? I disrespected you before, and I apologize for that, but you really don't seem too pissed off about it. Why is that?"

I laughed, naïve little fool. "Sean, not everyone takes everything so seriously. I'm looking out for you, wouldn't want to see you get killed, or end up in my ER room."

"Looks like you didn't have a maid outfit for a reason." He quipped before he could stop himself. I gave him a look, and he laughed sheepishly,

"Oh, right. Sorry about that, Mei."

I rolled my eyes, this kid was too much. "Don't let Kashi or Morimoto hear you calling me that. They're a bit … protective, let's say that. Long story short, don't bite off more than you can chew. So, learn how to drift before you think about challenging them, Sean."

Walking away, he yells out my name again, "So do you drift?"

I snorted. Was that even a question?

"Teach me how to drift."

"You can ask Han. But if he's a shit teacher, give me a call."

I scribbled down my number on a receipt I had in my pocket, handing it to him between two fingers. Before he got to grab it, I retracted the piece of paper, "No 3AM calls unless you're dying, alright?"

He nodded, happily taking the receipt, shoving it in his pocket. Walking back to pick up Neela, Han looked at me suspiciously.

"Remember what I said, Sean."

With that, I went back upstairs to pick up Neela. As usual, Takashi didn't really seem to take an interest in her. Grabbing my leather jacket, we left to have a girls night.

* * *

"Neela, you know that this won't end well for anybody." Meiko said lowly at the coffee house. "There's too many strings, too many hot tempered men, too many complications."

"Meiko, I know that. Trust me, I do. But Sean, he treats me like a human being. Takashi notices you more than he notices me. I have needs too! I don't know what to do. I want to be with someone who gives a damn about me. I would give anything to have Takashi look at me the way Han looks at you. It's just so infuriating!"

Neela was right but at the same time, she was being unreasonable. Wait, what?

"What do you mean the way Han looks at me?"

She looked like she was trying to explain quantum physics to a three year old.

"Han, Meiko. He looks at you like you're the greatest thing he's ever set his eyes upon. His eyes light up when you enter a room. Even before, when you were speaking to Sean! His eyes followed your every move, his body leaning forward whenever Sean was even remotely close to you. I wasn't even there until you finished the conversation with Sean! But if that's what I saw in a mere 30 seconds, I can't even imagine what's he like all the other times of the day."

Meiko huffed, leaning back into the booth chair, hitting it with a thud. Cradling her green tea latte, she peered back up at Neela,

"Really? Cause we've only known each other for what, a few weeks?"

She waved her hand dismissively,

"Let's talk about how you and Han are gonna be ridiculously cute together. Forget Takashi. We can talk about him later. So, do you like him?"

"Do I? I don't know, Neela. He's such a mystery. We've kissed, but that's about it. And I'm kinda wearing his shirt right now."

Neela started squealing, "SO YOU GUYS SLEPT TOGETHER?"

People from around the café turned to stare at the two, whispering about how reckless the youth of today were.

"NO! And I think you could've said that a little louder, I don't think all of Shibuya heard you. I was drunk and stayed over at his place; he just gave me an old shirt to wear. That is all. Nothing happened, Neela."

Meiko was rolling her eyes, but she could feel her cheeks getting warm.

"But you definitely want something to happen, right?"

Neela was getting more excited about the possibility of Meiko and Han dating than Meiko, herself.

"I don't know, Neela. Would Han and I even work out? His reputation is that he's a notorious womanizer. I don't want to get hurt again. Not anymore. I really want to give him a chance, but god, I just … UGH. I can't even think straight anymore."

Neela nodded understandingly, rubbing Meiko's free hand as she remembered the incident with Kai.

The two talked more about boys until it was time for the café to close. Walking home, Meiko stared at the city lights in wonder. Maybe she could give Han a chance. To prove her wrong. To prove that she won't be hurt this time. Just maybe.

* * *

Racerchick599, SamWarrior, Betzz98 , XoxoBeautiful NightmareXoxo: I'm glad you guys like the development so far! ^_^

Spirit Kiss: Thank you! Haha yeah, it's usually helpful to understand the main gist of the plotline. Tokyo Drift is an amazing movie! So happy you like it!

Jess (Guest): Yeah, I wanted Han to be with someone that was slightly aloof, like himself. But I think Meiko's still dynamic enough to be different. Stay tuned for future chapters, there's a reason why it's rated mature ;)

**Please review, readers! If you notice, the more reviews I get, the faster I post up new chapters!  
I appreciate all sorts of feedback! Suggestions and criticisms only help me get a better feel of how to improve the story!  
Thanks!**

**xx**


	5. Chapter V: Levels

**Levels by Avicii (Reverse) George Monev Remix**

******Levels by Avicii (Reverse) George Monev Remix**

Meiko's POV

A few days later, I woke up to a text from an unknown number.

_Hey, you said you could teach me how to drift if I'm still not getting it, right? It's Sean, by the way. And it's not 3AM. _

Of course it was Sean. I groaned, turning over my face into the pillow. Why was I up at such an ungodly hour on a day where I don't have work? Or the next few days, actually. It's 9 in the morning. I'll just go out later.

_Your text woke me up, regardless. I'm going back to sleep. Text me where you guys are drifting and I'll stop by sometime today._

With that, I threw my phone on a nearby pillow and continued my much-deserved slumber.

* * *

I turned over; finally awake, to my phone ringing like no tomorrow. It was Sean. "What?" I mumbled into the phone.

His thick Texan accent oozed over the phone, "Come on, Mei. I really want to learn to drift today. Or at least get better. All Han is telling me to do is to do it again. I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

I sighed, "By the mountains, right?" Holding the phone to my ear, I stumbled around my room to put together a semi-decent outfit. He excitedly asked if that meant I was coming. Grunting, I hung up and started getting ready to go out. If Han couldn't teach him to drift, it might take a miracle for me to be able to help out. Dressed in a loose grey tank top and shorts, I shoved on my combat boots and out the door I went. Grabbing the keys to my motorbike, I sped out of the parking lot to the mountain where everybody learns to drift.

* * *

Han's POV

We finally convinced Sean to take a breather, he wasn't going to improve by continuously driving if he couldn't realize what he was doing wrong. He had to feel the mountains in order to drift, but he didn't seem to be grasping that concept. Taking a swig of my beer, I heard a motorbike quickly approaching us. It was clear that the rider was female, but I don't recall knowing any female motor bikers. Everyone else seemed to be baffled, except Sean, oddly enough. He looked giddy, almost. Her helmet was effectively blocking out her face to any outsider who wanted to see who she was. Screeching to a halt a few feet away from us, she finally removed her helmet.

Shaking her long hair out of the mess it was from being under the helmet, she turned around. It was Meiko. She smiled at us before shooting a withered look to Sean, "On my day off of all days, really?" Turning to me, "Why couldn't you teach him to drift later in the day when everyone else is up?" I looked at Sean, questioningly. How did she know I was teaching Sean to drift?

"I asked her to come here and help you teach me how to drift." Sean answered.

"What am I, chopped liver? Am I not good enough to teach you?" I yelled, slightly offended.

"Nah, Han. I just wanted to see if she had a different approach, that's all." He said defensively. I shook my head, if she could somehow get the Texan to drift, be my guest. I leaned back against my chair as she walked over to Reiko and Earl.

"Sorry, we haven't been introduced. I'm Meiko." She held her hand out to Reiko and Earl. They did their introductions and Sean went down the mountain once to show Meiko how his driving was like, pitiful, at best; making her wince slightly. Reiko showed her the replays of Sean's completely terrible drifting skills, or lack thereof. She seemed to instantly take a liking to Meiko, maybe cause their names were so damn similar.

* * *

Pursing her lips, Meiko seemed to understand Sean's problem. "Your throttle response is fine, it's just, right when you're about to turn, you let go of the clutch too quickly. It's instinct for you, I suppose, since you're so used to straight line racing."

She tapped her nose, then widening her eyes as if she solved the problem. "I GOT IT. Sean, I'm going to show you how to drift with a motorbike. Pay close attention to my angles when I drift." With that, she bounded off to her bike. The rest of the group looked confused, was it even possible to drift with something other than a car?

"Reiko! Do me a favor and record this?" Reiko uncertainly gave her a thumbs up, signaling the ok despite her confusion. She sped off to the top of the bend, quickly turning around to face the group at the bottom. Flicking down the visor to her helmet, she expertly made her way around the bends, drifting perfectly as if it were no different from a car.

Han stared in awe, "I think I'm in love." The group laughed, it wasn't every day that Han voiced that he was impressed. Upon taking off her helmet, Reiko flew towards her, throwing her arms around her in a hug.

"MEIKO-SAN. THAT WAS AMAZING. Can you teach me how to do that? HAN! I like her, can we please keep her?"

She was bouncing up and down in excitement awaiting Han's answer. But he was speechless, as were Earl and Twinkie. Meiko smiled bashfully, she wasn't used to compliments so upfront. Sean was the first to speak, "Alright, I get it a little more. My angles are definitely a lot different from that." He furrowed his brows, wondering how he could change his driving tactic. Scrambling into the Evo, he went up the mountain and drove down again, this time, better.

Meiko jumped up in the air, throwing her arms in the air, turning to Han, and giving him a tight hug. He hugged her back, he couldn't believe it. The amount of improvement that just happened was miraculous, seeing as how horrible Sean's driving was for the past week. Regaining his tough exterior, "Again." Han ordered. That's how it went for the rest of the day, but it seemed that Sean's miraculous improvement had plateaued. Unfortunately for everyone, Meiko was not the most patient of people when it came to drifting.

"Sean, before you start driving like a grandmother again, give me the keys." She huffed in annoyance, muttering obscene words under her breath. Sean reluctantly gave them to her, even though he thought he was improving, there was clearly a lot more room for improvement if Meiko thought there was.

"What're you standing there for? Get in the passenger seat." Turning to Han, she asked, "You've drifted with him in the car, yes?" Han nodded in affirmation. Perfect. Getting into the car, she drove off with Sean captive in the passenger seat. At the top, she turned to him, "Now, watch how I drive, and feel the response of the car. Okay? Really feel it." He looked absolutely lost, but nodded regardless. Before he could nod again, she was already speeding down the mountain faster than he thought possible. He could drift more now, not enough improvement to call it good, but improvement was better than nothing. His timing was still a little off. Han drummed his fingers against his thighs, "Again!"

By the end of the day, the tires were busted. Sean still hadn't quite got the hang of drifting. He pulled up to the group, deciding to call it a day. But Meiko stood up suddenly, "Let's do it my way." She strode over to her bike, beckoning both Han and Sean to come over.

"Alright, this is what's going to happen. Sean, you still don't have a feel for the mountain like Han says. But what you need is pressure. You're not being pushed up against the wall in order to get it right. So we'll do something about that. Han, you get in the passenger seat, and I'll be on my bike on the outer portion of the mountain. When you drift on the bend, Sean, you better make it. If not, I fly off the mountain." Both looked at me like I was insane, only to get a bored look in return.

"Listen, guys. That's how I learned to drift. This is your pressure, Sean. If you send me off the cliff, Han will most likely kill you for killing me. If not, you can deal with Yakuza. Plain and simple! Yosh, let's go!"

Reiko looked devastated; Earl in complete shock and Twinkie's jaw hit the ground. With numerous protests against how it was a terrible idea, Meiko shook it off. It was baffling how nonchalant she was being about the whole situation. Sean was clearly not skilled enough to be trusted with Meiko's life at stake. But she trusted him; she knew that with enough pressure, with enough at stake, Sean would be able to do it. All he needed was somebody to believe in him.

At the top of the mountain, Sean's red Evo and Meiko's motorbike were side by side. Sean looked incredibly nervous, Han looking as impassive as ever. Han didn't know whether to believe in Meiko's complete confidence or throw caution to the wind if this idea actually worked and got him a good driver. He really needed a cigarette to calm his nerves right about now. Meiko flicked up her visor,

"I believe in you, Texan." she reassured him.

This seemed to calm Sean, but Han wasn't so sure. It didn't show on his exterior, but internally, he was nervous. He couldn't understand it, but the mere thought of Meiko getting hurt made his heart sink. The revving of Meiko's bike brought him out of his stupor. Sean's engine roared, and they took off, speeding down the mountain.

"You do realize if you run her off, the entire Yakuza's going after you."

Sean disregarded Han, only stepping further on the gas. But to his surprise, he did it. Sean made it to the bottom, not perfectly, but he didn't hit Meiko, his bends were decent and he didn't brake too suddenly. He could hear her squealing and yelling with Reiko, Earl and Twinkie coming over to give high fives and congratulate him. Getting out of the car, he hated to admit it, but Meiko's "methods" proved to be more effective than his own.

"I think this calls for a celebration, don't you think?" Han smirked. Everybody cheered in excitement knowing that Han's parties never disappointed. Meiko had never been to a party thrown by Han. By the look on everyone's faces, it was always amazing. Reiko sensed her confusion,

"I'll swing by your place later and pick you up! Here, put my number in your phone!"

* * *

**Lady OD** & **betzz98** – Thanks!

**Spirit Kiss** – Thanks so much! I guess you'll just have to wait and see! Tell your sister I said thanks too! (:

_**Please review, guys! I'd really like any input you have about the story. More reviews mean I put up the next chapter faster!**_

_**Note: I usually finish writing the chapter after before publishing. So, for example, if I post up chapter 3, chapter 4 is already written and chapter 5 would be in the making. More reviews, please! :)**_


	6. Chapter VI: Take A Walk

**Take A Walk (The M Machine Remix) by Passion Pit**

**Take A Walk (The M Machine Remix) by Passion Pit**

**Meiko's POV**

Arriving at the club, Meiko had to admit, Reiko was right. There was pounding techno music was blaring out of the speakers and models littering the dance floor. Yelling over the music to talk to Reiko, they finally made their way to the bar, finding Twinkie. Looking over at the VIP table, she spotted Han. He wasn't empty handed this time. There were models leaning all over him, having one on each arm. So this was how the infamous womanizer, Han Lue was really like. I caught his eye but looked away. It wasn't like we were together or anything. I had no right to be jealous… Right? Reiko saw what I stopped at and gave me a sad look.

"It's alright, Rei. It's not like we're together. He can do whatever he wants."

I laughed to myself. Maybe if I told myself that enough, I would believe it. Reiko gave me a smile.

"Don't worry, Meiko-san. Han might be like this now, and I haven't known you for very long, but I think you can pull him out of that cycle. I've never seen Han look at someone for such a long time, and that's saying something." she said reassuringly.

She seemed to have so much faith in me, it was a bit scary. Sitting down at the bar, Reiko went off to go yell at Earl, Twinkie followed a model away, leaving me alone, downing a shot of whiskey. My phone went off, it was Takashi.

"Moshi, moshi."

"Mei, are you at Han's party?"

I gave a grunt of confirmation as I downed another shot.

"Keep an eye out for Neela, I know she's there. Do me a favor and keep her away from the tourist."

Was he that paranoid? Did Sean make so much of an impact on Neela that he had to call me out to keep her in check? This was a new side of Takashi that I haven't seen before. I could see him in my head pacing around if I said no. I'm pretty sure he would've come down here himself to make sure she stayed away if he really felt so inclined to do so.

"Yeah, I will if I see her, Kashi. Don't worry."

Hearing the words he wanted, he exhaled audibly, "… Thank you."

And then he hung up abruptly. Hearing him actually say thanks shocked me, I was in awe as I slowly pulled my phone away from my ear. I look down at the bar table, I already had four shots of whiskey. Getting up off the stool, I wobbled. Well, that's enough for the night. Maybe some air will help.

On my way out, I saw Han drunkenly suck face with some model. I could feel myself getting jealous, but I really shouldn't. Air, that's all I need, air. All of a sudden, an arm shot out in front of me, its owner placing his palm on the wall. I turned to glare at whoever was blocking away, and my breath got caught in my throat.

"Well, well, well, look at who we have here. It really is you, Mei. Long time no see." He drawled out.

It was Kai, my abusive ex-boyfriend. This could not be happening here. Not now, not ever. No no no no no. I was speechless. Words wouldn't formulate. He wrapped his arm around my waist; I winced as my back hit the wall. I held back the shudder that was racing through my veins.

"What's wrong, Mei? I haven't seen you in so long. Don't you have anything to say to me, sweetheart?"

I glared as intensely as I could, trying to pry his disgusting hands off of my body.

"No, Kai. Get away from me. I have nothing to say to you."

This didn't seem to bother him at all. He was a lot stronger than I was, his grip only tightening. I could feel his fingers digging into my waist.

"Aw, don't be like that baby. What's been going on since I left?"

"Since you left? I left you, remember? Or did all the drugs get to your head?" I scoffed, laughing sarcastically. This only caused him to dig deeper, leaving crescent marks that I knew would appear by morning, along with bruises.

"What did I say about talking to me like that? You know I don't like it when you use a tone with me." He snarled, leaning close to me. "And don't you forget." He leaned down to kiss my neck as I continued trying to push him off me. But no matter what, he wouldn't budge.

"I've grown since then. I'm not that scared girl that you can manipulate anymore. So get off of me, get off, you shit. STOP." I raged defiantly.

"Hey, the lady said stop."

I turned to the voice, it was Han. He stood there aloofly, with a beer in one hand, another held up leaning against the wall. His body language showed he didn't care, but his eyes were another story. Kai looked up from my neck and sneered at Han.

"This doesn't involve you. This is between me and her." Turning back to me, he continued, "I really never thought I would see you here. You know, it wasn't smart of you to sever all ties with us."

"I am not involved with you, not now, not ever."

Han sighed, "This is my club. You touch Meiko again and I will personally assure that you never set foot in Tokyo again."

Kai smiled wide, "Meiko, huh? You changed your name to, oh god, this is great. Wait till Uncle hears about this. He's going to have a field day." Looking at Han, Kai saw his look of confusion.

"Oh? You didn't tell him. I guess he doesn't know about our Drug Princess? You keep interesting company nowadays, Mei. Why'd you have to go and betray our trust like that, hmmm? But then again, I guess it runs in your family, the genes of traitors, just like your father."

My resolve was beginning to crumble at the mention of my father, but I managed a quick slap to the face, my lips curled into a snarl at the mere sight of his disgustingly cocky face.

"One cannot betray the trust that was never there."

"I'm positive that Uncle would forgive you for your brash mistake out of the kindness of his heart should you return into the business."

"Raising me as a fucking weapon was neither brash nor a mistake. My only regret was that it had to be done. No, the mistake was you."

* * *

**Han's POV**

He raised a hand to slap Meiko. However, she moved faster than I could react.

Grabbing his arm, she twisted it, forcing him to fully turn to her. He held her steely gaze for a strained three breaths.

"The next time you dare raise a hand to me will be the last time you have hands. Do well to remember that." She whispered vehemently. Every ounce of blood had drained from this man's face.

"Go back to your insolent Uncle and tell him to forget that I ever existed."

"How dare you speak to me like that, I am Uncle's right hand man. The insolent one is you, I could tell him to have someone kill you within the hour." He managed to get out.

She paused, searching his eyes before continuing, "Then you should tell Uncle that I gave you some advice." She spoke as if explaining to a child. Releasing his wrist, she flexed her fingers; "Should you or Uncle have the nerve to think about coming after me, watch your back. Because I will without a doubt, come for you. And you should know, when I come for you, your life … Is forfeit."

Grimacing, he dusted some imaginary dust from his trousers, "What? Will you kill me if I don't? That does seem to be your specialty. You'll soon regret this, sweetheart. Not even Kamata can protect you this time."

"Do not call me that, I am no longer your sweetheart."

With that, he stalked out of the club.

"Christ, I just want to break off all of his stupid fingers, one by one. I just hate being touched when I don't want to be." she groaned, looking at me, exhausted. My mind swirled frantically with the unexpected onslaught of information, along with obscure hints of betrayal and potential murder. She hadn't denied a single accusation. I didn't have a chance to ask her any questions because Neela had arrived, with Sean in tow.

"Was that … Kai?" she almost whispered.

Mei nodded before sliding against the wall, her guard completely crushed. "He's back, Neela. THEY'RE back, Neela. Fuck."

Slumping to her knees, she tried to hold back the tears that threatened to escape. And all I could do was watch, as her world seemed to crumble.

* * *

"Oh, Mei." Neela cooed, brushing Meiko's back. She buried her face in her hands, not even caring who saw anymore. She could only look up, and wonder how could things end up like this? Han was speechless, just staring intently at Meiko, looking concerned. Sean looked as lost as Han felt, but Neela shook her head at him as the tears started streaming down Meiko's face. Neela understood that Meiko just needed an emotional release, and crying it out was best for her. Neela understood that if Meiko didn't tell someone something, she wasn't in place to say anything. And for that, Meiko was grateful.

"C'mon, get up, Mei. Sitting on the floor isn't going to help. Han, take her to the bathroom or something."

She got up and stood with Sean as Han held Meiko's hand and led her upstairs. Stopping at his bathroom, he slowly let go, realizing that he was holding her hand the entire time. Just less than fifteen minutes ago, she was ready to snap a man's wrist merely for touching her, yet she barely seemed to notice Han tugging her through the mass of dancers and down several hallways and up a few staircases. Upon thinking about it, he realized that any time he had any sort of physical contact with Meiko, she had never reacted harshly like she did with the man just now.

* * *

**Meiko's POV**

"You know where everything is. Just come out when you're ready, ok?"

Han looked at me, wiping away a tear with his thumb, trying to give me a reassuring smile. I walked into the bathroom, staring at my tear-streaked face in the mirror. Han couldn't have find out like this. Nobody was ever supposed to find out. I wasn't sure if it was the alcohol, the lack of air, the pressure, seeing Kai, it was probably everything all at once. I was a mess. I threw water at my face, wiping off the streaky mascara to the best of my abilities before walking back out to face Han.

He was sitting on the couch, leaning forward with his elbows rested on his knees, hands clasped. Seeing me come out of his bathroom, he strode over to me, enveloping me in his arms. I couldn't do anything except lean against his chest, and stay there. His arms brushed up and down my back to calm me down. He led me over to the couch, placing me in his lap as he soothingly combed through my hair.

"Shhh, it's gonna be alright, Mei."

I looked at him, "Why? Why do you still trust me, Han? Even after knowing that I could be hiding something from you. Just – I" He cut me off, putting a finger to my lips.

"Look, Mei. You will tell me when you're ready. You know what, I trust you because I can and I do. Trust is earned, and you haven't lied to me yet."

That was the sweetest and most honest moment I've had with Han.

"But I do have one question." He said, draping his arm around my shoulder. His chest was warm and I was melting into it. "And I expect an honest answer." I paused, nodding hesitantly, readying myself for whatever question he had.

"How many of Kai's fingers would you have broken?"

I look up from his chest and stared at him incredulously, fully grasping his question before I busted out laughing. Out of all the questions I had expected him to ask; that had never crossed my mind. My laughter finally subsided, giving me the chance to slap his shoulder.

"I'll tell you soon. When I'm not an ugly mess."

He leaned in so that our foreheads were touching, our noses mere millimeters away. "Don't say that, you're absolutely beautiful." He was so close I could smell the whiskey on his breath.

"Han, you're drunk."

He closed the tiny gap so that our noses touched, kissing my lips chastely. When his lips left mine, I felt like something was missing. He then slowly yet softly kissed my nose, working up to my forehead to kiss me there as well.

"Yes, I am drunk. And you? You are beautiful. Tomorrow morning, I'll be sober, but you'll still be beautiful."

With those words, I fell.

I, Mei Ko had fallen for Han Lue.


	7. Chapter VII: Midnight City

**Midnight City by M83**

**Midnight City by M83**

**Midnight City by M83**

* * *

**Han's POV**

I woke up to find myself alone. This seemed to be a reoccurring event whenever I was with Meiko, if that was actually her name. The events from yesterday played again in my head. From Mei seeing me with the models, some man named Kai making her cry, and the last thing I remember was telling Mei she was beautiful. I unbuttoned the dress shirt from last night, catching a whiff of her floral scented perfume still lingering in the collar area. Standing up, I realized it was a bad idea. My head was pounding from a hangover.

Squinting at the clock, it was about two in the afternoon. It was then that I noticed a bottle of water with a few aspirin next to it on the coffee table. Alongside it was a note in what I assumed was Meiko's bubbly handwriting.

_It'll alleviate your hangover.  
Remember to eat lots of carbs.  
Thanks for yesterday. _

_ - Mei _

* * *

**Meiko's POV**

We were still working on teaching Sean to drift when Han came down. His hair was still damp from the shower he took when he stepped out. I caught his eye, silently pleading for him not to bring up the night before. He seemed to understand, nodding, as if nothing happened. Sean was getting a lot better, and there was a way that Han looked to prove it.

"Twink! I'm gonna grab another set!" Sean yelled to Twinkie, reading a car magazine. He nonchalantly waved him off at first until he processed the words in his head.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up! Another set?! Chill with it, man. That was your third set today! Tires don't come cheap, Sean!"

Tires screeched as a few cars pulled up from a distance near us. It was Takashi and his crew. Han instantly went up to Takashi,

"Grab a chair, DK. We're about to roast some marshmallows." He said light-heartedly.

But Takashi pushed right past him, taking purposeful steps towards Sean. I held my breath, holding a hand to my mouth as Takashi repeatedly threw heavy punches at Sean, relentlessly till he was beaten to a bloody pulp, literally. Stepping back, I look around at anyone who would stop him. I caught Morimoto's eyes but the look on his face said that I shouldn't intervene.

"Stay away from her." He whispered to Sean, "Or the only thing you'll be driving… Is a wheelchair. Wakata ka?"

Pushing past Twinkie, he glared at Han, "Find yourself a new driver."

He then strode back towards me.

"Come with me, we need to talk."

I looked helplessly at Sean, my instincts as a nurse kicked in, I desperately wanting to patch him up and wrap bandages around his wounds. Glancing at Takashi and Morimoto, they both gave a firm shake of their head. I sighed, giving an apologizing look to everybody as I slid into Takashi's car, with him slamming the door next to me. What an odd time for him to be a gentleman, after beating a man to a pulp. Very gentlemanly. Swiftly turning around, the crew all made their way out of the lot.

* * *

"I'm alright," Sean muttered, spitting the blood from his mouth.

Han scoffed, "What'd you expect? You didn't just play with fire, you soaked the matches in gasoline."

* * *

"So what happened back there, Kashi?"

He exhaled heavily through his nose, "One of my men saw them intimately having dinner yesterday. She had the audacity to tell me it was over, that I had changed." He slammed the wheel fiercely, making a wide turn back to the hideout. Turning to me in his seat, "Have I really changed so much to the point where she hates me, Mei?"

Meiko smiled sadly at him, gently massaging his shoulder, and took a deep breath.

"Kashi, you're just trying to please too many people at once. You're stretching yourself thin. And it just so happens that you're a fiery person, and when you're at your limits, you tend to take it out on Neela. She just has needs too. I don't think it's anything against you personally, Takashi. When she needed room to breathe, you didn't let her. When you keep someone as free-spirited as Neela caged like that, the harder they fight to escape. Sean was the first person to not really know who she was and respect her for it. She's so used to people in the Yakuza not speaking to her out of fear of you that something so novel like Sean interested her. It's not you, it's not her. Sometimes, things just fall apart, timing, personality differences, and what always happens, life."

He seemed thoughtful for a moment, shaking his head.

"I feel bad, Mei. Neela, she means a lot to me. She just – she's so frustrating. I nearly hit her. I was almost like … Kai." He instantly turned to Mei and winced, he knew that mentioning his name wasn't the best idea.

"He's back, you know. Kai. He's back. Yesterday. He was at Han's club. And he- he told me to go back to work for them or else I'd regret it." Meiko whispered, slowly leaning back into her seat, not caring that his name was mentioned.

"Mei, he won't be able to do anything to you. Yakuza's protecting you. I am protecting you. You know I would put my life on the line for you."

"That's exactly the problem, Kashi. I know that, he knows that. The Triads know that. I don't want anyone getting hurt. I just want you all to be safe."

* * *

Two week later, Takashi and Meiko were still arguing about Kai and the Triads. They argued on their way up to the Yakuza hideout atop of the pachinko arcades. Takashi had slumped back into his chair as Meiko went to go make tea. Before long, it spread like wildfire that Kamata was downstairs. The lower ranks rushed out, the higher ranks standing in line as Takashi tidied up the place, grabbing his reports.

As Kamata stepped into the office, everyone bowed respectfully before exiting the office, leaving only Meiko and Takashi to be with Kamata.

"I was just about to see you, Oji-san."

Placing an arm on Takashi's shoulder, he smiles, "Have you been well?"

"Yes. Here's last week's take."

"Oji-san" Takashi murmured, bowing to Kamata; holding the report out for him, only for Kamata to walk pass him, not acknowledging him.

"Business good lately, Takashi?"

"Hai, please. Sit, uncle."

As Kamata eased into the armchair behind the table, Meiko appeared, placing a cup of hot tea near him.

"I remembered your favorite tea, uncle."

He smiled at Meiko, "Good girl." She grew to be a daughter of sorts to him and he treated her as such. "I've heard from my men that Kai and the Triads are back. You say the word, and I can have the entire gang eliminated." He promised, glancing up at her, he was glad to see a determined look on her face.

"I do not scare easy, Oji-san. You have taught me that we only fear what we do not understand. I understand their workings, one must always be swifter than the opponent's mind." Bowing, she gestured to the tea. As she got up, she smiled widely upon seeing his proud look. Immediately, she pranced over, hugging Kamata tightly. It was rare that Kamata allowed such a blatant display of emotion, but he had a soft spot for Meiko. Such displays were brief whenever it happened. Even Takashi had to smile slightly. Patting her back, Kamata chuckled.

"There, there. I'll be out soon. I just need to talk about some business with Takashi."

Nodding, she quickly shot a worried glance to Takashi. Meiko was usually there for business discussions; Kamata respected her opinions enough to have her included. For her to be kicked out was odd, and nerve-wracking, for Takashi, anyway.

* * *

**Meiko's POV**

Kamata exited the office alone. This was odd, normally, Takashi would escort him out. But I only saw Takashi's back. Kamata smiled at me, patting my cheek before leaving the premises. Rushing into the office, I instantly see Takashi looking pissed as hell, his eyes slightly watering.

"Han's been stealing from me."

"What? Are you sure?" I didn't even have time to comprehend the thought; Takashi was already dragging me to his car.

"We're going to find out now."

And we sped off to Han's garage. I really hoped he didn't steal money from Takashi, I really do. But I had a feeling that I was wrong. As we approached, we definitely made an entrance. Tires squealed from every direction, causing everyone from the garage to look out to see what the commotion was about. Takashi stormed out with Morimoto in tow, and a few other men flanking my back.

"Hey, brotha" Han said airily, to be met with a punch across the face from Takashi.

"I vouched for you! I put my reputation on the line for you! We were partners! You think you can keep your side deals from me?"

Han quickly shoved him off, "This ain't the boy scouts, it's what we do."

"Takashi!" Neela yelled.

My heart dropped. This just made everything ten times worse. Takashi looked torn between betrayed, confused, angry and taken aback. When Sean followed closely behind her, I knew things weren't going to end well. Takashi proved it by pulling out his gun.

"This is what we do, huh?" He snarled, pointing the gun at Han's head.

"You need me. You'd still be shaking down tea houses for chump change if it wasn't for me." Han said steadily. I could tell he was trying not to shake, to keep his composure. Takashi saw straight through it, angering him even further, cocking his gun. I ran in front of him, trying to get him to put the gun down.

"Kashi, yamete." I whisper, the gun now pointed directly at my temple. I know he would never shoot me, but everyone else was free game. Someone else pulled the lever to lower the gates, causing everyone to duck, heading in different directions. During the confusion, one of the men pulled his trigger, effectively putting a bullet into my stomach. Everyone ran for cover from the noise of the gunshot.

* * *

Meiko quickly collapsed onto the door of Han's car, blood leaking from her stomach. Hitting her head on the door handle made her wince, sucking in her breath. The man that shot Meiko tried shooting at her again, narrowly missing Han.

"Regards from Kai."

He laughed, trying to make a run for it. Enraged, Morimoto grabbed his gun, shooting at the faux gang member. He emptied his gun, putting several bullets into the man, cleanly piercing most of his vital organs. Realizing his gun was empty and the perpetrator dead, he rushed towards Meiko.

Three men surrounded Meiko; Takashi, Morimoto and Han. Han couldn't even get close before Takashi slugged him again.

"It isn't your place to worry. Stay away from Mei." He snapped.

He tore off the sleeve of his shirt; Morimoto cradled Meiko to lightly lift her from the ground as Takashi wrapped the fabric tightly around her lithe frame to stop the bleeding. With one last menacing look at Han, Takashi lifted her up bridal style, away from Han's garage and into his car to the hospital.

"I'm so sorry, Mei. You're going to be fine." Takashi whispered to Mei as he went to drifting speeds on the highway, saying it more so to reassure himself than her.

"I'm sorry I'm getting blood all over your seats. I'll get you new ones when my body isn't leaking. Heh." She laughed sarcastically, trying not to wince and further worry Takashi. He couldn't help but laugh. Even when she was in such a state, she still tried to lighten the situation.

* * *

**Han's POV**

Takashi had discovered his side deals, some guy shot Meiko and now she's in the hospital. Were it not for him stealing Takashi's money, Meiko would not have been with him, the man would not have shot Meiko there and she would not have been hurt. Fuck. This was his fault entirely.

Everyone in the garage was at a lost. Everything happened so fast. Neela immediately broke down crying in Sean's arms, fully understanding the brevity of the situation. In a way, Meiko had saved everybody. When Takashi held that gun out, he had no problem shooting everyone in the garage. It was Meiko that stopped him from shooting Han, preventing everyone from losing a father figure, and a place to stay. Reiko leaned back into Earl, trying to process everything that happened. Taking a deep breath, she stomped down the stairs to stand directly in front of Han, arms crossed.

"You better make sure Meiko is ok. If not, I won't ever forgive you."

Han slumped down to the floor, throwing the wrench he held in his hands to the side.

* * *

**SamWarrior** – Thanks! You'll just have to keep reading to find out more! Really? What does the name Kai remind you of? :o

**Spirit Kiss** – Yes, she does! You'll find out who he is in the next chapter! ;)

**Lady OD** – Yay! That line has a lot to do with what's in the next chapter!

**Nikki-Nieu** – Yup! Finally, right?

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE **

_I'm so excited for you guys to read Chapter 8, there's a lot going into that chapter. A lot of questions will be answered, so stay tuned! Anyway, please please please review! I'm taking suggestions such as what you guys would want to happen in the story, certain scenes, and everything in between. I really appreciate any ideas and input you guys have! The more reviews, the faster Chapter 8 gets put up!_

_And an extra question, do you feel that adding song titles/artists help with the story?_


	8. Chapter VIII: Young Blood

**Young Blood (Slow Version) by The Naked and Famous**

**Young Blood (Slow Version) by The Naked And Famous**

**Young Blood (Slow Version) by The Naked And Famous**

The following weeks after Meiko got shot were complicated. She had avoided everyone at all costs. By taking on numerous night shifts at the hospital, sleeping during the day. Whenever she wasn't working, sleeping, or eating, she was with Takashi or Morimoto. Avoiding everyone was working out quite well until the following morning.

"Meiko! We have a problem! You better take a look."

"What's wrong? What happened, Kana?"

"A boy was thrown outside the ER room with a note taped onto him. It was addressed to you…"

Meiko could feel her heart stop; she had a strong feeling in her stomach that this was from Kai or the Triads. It was to send a message to her, what it was, she still wasn't sure. But the fact that they could fathom sending in an innocent was just cruel.

"Alright, Kana, tell the other nurses to hold the fort in the ER. Call Dr. Fujiwara to come in and quick." She requested, jogging to the emergency room where the boy was waiting. There were so many other citizens waiting to be treated, and she hated to serve one over the other, but she felt this could be a special case. She ran a jittery hand through her hair as she helped some patients get to their departments, as she was en route to her patient. Upon arrival, a small boy, no older than five years old, was sitting patiently on the hospital bed, swinging his legs back and forth speaking to …

"Han?"

The man looked up from the boy and threw a lopsided grin at Meiko. A soft sniffle brought his attention back to the boy. Motioning for Meiko to come closer, the boy looked curiously at the newcomer.

"Hi there little man, my name is Meiko. What about you?" she whispered, crouching to the same level as Han. The boy peered through his long lashes at Han, seemingly searching for approval. His hands seemed clammy, tightly clutching a piece of paper in his small hands. Han nodded, giving him the green light to talk to Meiko.

"I-I'm Toshi Iwazaki. I w-was told to g-give you this." He stuttered as he shakily handed over the piece of paper to Meiko. Delicately unfolding the note, there were only five words, "Come back or regret it." Closing her eyes, she deeply exhaled, placing the note in her pocket.

"Well, Toshi, I'll be your doctor. What happened to you? You're hurt."

Toshi looked down at the cuts and bruises littering his body, his face glum. "The men hurt me because I wanted to go home."

Meiko couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was speechless. Seeing Meiko's reaction, Han dug out a bag of gummy bears from his jacket pocket.

"Hey, little man. Dr. Meiko and I are going outside to have an adult conversation. Is it okay if you stay here and watch TV?"

Toshi didn't answer, intently staring at the bag of gummy bears in Han's large hands. Knowing the kid wanted sweets, Han held out the gummy bears to Toshi.

"Would it be alright if I gave you gummy bears?"

Toshi nodded eagerly, gingerly taking the bag from Han. "Thank you, Han-san!" With that, he grabbed the remote from the bed stand and turned the television on to a cartoon channel.

Han ushered Meiko out of Toshi's room, out into the hallway.

"Why have you been avoiding me these past few weeks, Mei?"

She sighed, looking around before grabbing Han's hands in her own to lead him to a storage room nearby. Pulling him into the small room, she locked the doors and turned on the lights. Turning around and leaning against the storage door, she peered up at Han. He was patiently leaning against the wall, waiting for Meiko to speak.

"Look, Han. I'm not avoiding you. I've just been really busy with work. There's a lot of shifts and paperwork to catch up with…"

Han didn't look convinced, "That's bullshit. Come on, Mei. You couldn't have come up with a better excuse than that? Tell me why you've really been avoiding me. The truth."

"Now? I'm not sure if you've noticed, but there's a child in the other room that's probably traumatized because of me. And it's just too much to handle. You, Kai, Takashi, I just can't. I can't."

"Breathe, Mei." He consoled, rubbing the sides of her arms.

"Look, I have work to do. I get off in about an hour. We can talk then." She said hurriedly, giving him one last look before unlocking the door and leaving Han by himself in the storage room.

* * *

Meiko spotted Han casually leaning against his car outside the hospital, munching on some pretzels. As he opened his mouth to say something, she cut him off.

"There's a really good coffee place by the pier. Let's get coffee."

Han drove smoothly through the streets, weaving around cars en route to the pier. Meiko had slightly dozed off in the passenger seat, her hair perfectly framing her face. Glancing over to his passenger, Han couldn't help but smile. There was a part of him that was oddly proud of himself for Meiko being comfortable enough to fall asleep in his car, even if it was just a short drive. Arriving at the coffee shop, Han lulled the car to a stop, making sure his passenger wasn't roughly awoken. Lightly shaking Mei, she slowly blinked, taking in her surroundings.

"We're here."

Meiko slowly got out of the car, sluggishly treading her feet towards the coffee shop. Without looking down, Han slipped his hand into hers. The action sent shivers down her spine at the sudden contact. Sensing her alarm, Han slowly rubbed circles with his thumb on her hand. As quickly as he slipped his hand in hers, he let go, to open the door for her. How odd, she wondered.

Entering the café, she looked up at the endless choices she was used to seeing. She ended up ordering a vanilla latte, and he ordered a black coffee. Grabbing their coffees, they went back outside to stand by the rails, overlooking the water.

"So, you wanted to talk. What do you want to talk about?"

"You could start with explaining why you've been avoiding me."

Meiko sighed, running her fingers deftly through her wavy hair. "I really shouldn't be telling you, Han. You could be hurt, or worse, killed. I don't want that, Han. Not at all. Why can't we just leave it at that?"

"If I'm going to die, I'd like to at least know what I'm dying for. Or whom." He said, turning his head to stare straight at Meiko.

She stared right back, in wonder. Could she trust the enigma that is Han Lue? She desperately wanted to, but she's been down that road before. Trust was such a fickle thing. But what he said that night really stuck with her, "Trust is earned, and you haven't lied to me yet." She was wracking her brain for answers that would never come. This was just something she had to do by instinct, to trust or not to trust. Throwing caution to the wind, she decided to tell him, everything.

Tracing the outline of her coffee cup, Meiko blew at a stray hair that obscured her vision. She was caught off guard for the second time that night, freezing when Han delicately pushed the stray hair behind her ear.

"I guess I'll just start from wherever. The man at your club the other night, his name is Kai. He's my ex-boyfriend." She paused, not knowing where to go from there.

Han took that sign as the answer, "You're avoiding me because of an ex-boyfriend…?"

"No! I'm not finished. I just don't know where to continue. Let me finish! Okay, well. He's in the Triads, which is more or less the Yakuza of Hong Kong. My father, h-he … He was the leader of the Triads until I was about seven." She trailed off, struggling to continue.

"He was the leader until my Uncle got power hungry. He attempted to usurp my father's position. He tampered with a drug operation, putting impure chemicals into the drugs to be sold. And my father was pissed; he understood the chemical compounds, how much of each ingredient was necessary and everything. He knew how much could be the difference between pleasure and death. Drugs are a business; he understood that, a fair business. He couldn't sell faulty drugs to consumers if he knew that it could potentially kill them. That meant millions of dollars lost if my father scrapped that shipment of drugs, something my uncle wasn't willing to part with. That deal was for Kamata, my father and Kamata were close business partners, and if you can believe it, friends." She laughed at the irony of it all; a drug dealer that knew drugs could kill, selling it anyway. Yet, the dealer was willing to lose millions of dollars, knowing it was faulty, potentially lethal. It was an odd trait for any gang member to have; a conscience.

"Anyway, since my father called off the deal, my Uncle was furious. He forced my father to take the fall for the impure drugs, spreading rumors that my father was a traitor and he was trying to destroy the Triads from the inside out. He killed all of the higher ups, all of my father's advisors, and then he. He, h-he shot my mother in front of me, in front of my father. Then, he shot my father in front of me, Han. I was seven. I was seven, Han." Meiko couldn't stop the lone tear from falling.

Han quickly wiped it away with his thumb, "You don't have to continue if you don't want to, Mei. I understand."

"No! No, you don't, Han. Uncle took over the Triads and me? I ran. I ran, I ran from my fucking problems. I left my family; I left my brother to a monster. I didn't know what to do, so I ran. I escaped to Tokyo, and went to find Kamata. He was livid when he heard what happened, and he took me in. We tried to find my brother, but it was like he disappeared off the face of the earth. After a few years of searching, we gave up. Kamata raised me like a daughter, and I grew up with Takashi. That's why we're so close. He's done a lot for me, you know. He was really worried when I left to go study in New York. And I guess for a good reason, that's where I met Kai."

Han instantly tensed at the name, clenching his jaw, without really knowing why it provoked such a reaction from him.

"I got to know him, and we dated for quite a while. It was a bit before he told me his involvement with the Triads. But then he told me that my brother was still alive. I instantly flew back to Hong Kong with Kai to see him. And for the most part, he seemed to be in decent condition, he, of course had joined the Triads. However, I had seen the way that Uncle's men had treated him. And I made a bargain with my Uncle, I would do whatever it would take to free my brother. I mean, surely, you would know, once you're in a gang, you truly never leave. I wanted my brother to have a better life. And that's where I got the name of Drug Princess. I took after my father's capabilities of completely understanding the qualities of drugs. That was my end of the bargain; I would make a hundred million dollars worth of drugs for my Uncle for him to free my brother. And I did that, day and night, I made flawless batches of heroin, meth, any drug, you name it. I could make it. In that time, my relationship with Kai was crumbling. He couldn't accept the fact that my Uncle essentially valued me over him. He was abusive and I was scared. So I accepted my fate. I cook up drugs, get abused, and wake up to do it all over again. I-"

Han cut her off by putting both hands around her cheeks, cupping her face. He placed his forehead to hers, "Why would you be so stupid? Why would you let someone hurt you like that? Mei, I, I can promise you, that will never happen to you again, as long as I'm alive."

"That's my real name, you know."

Han looked absolutely lost.

"Mei. That's my name. My real name is Mei Ko."

He still looked confused.

"I was born in Hong Kong, Han. I'm Chinese. My last name is Ko. My first name is Mei. I changed my name once I got to Japan, but I couldn't throw away my heritage. So I just made it a full name. Meiko. Nobody ever asked for my last name, so I never made one up. And people just started calling me Mei, so I guess, in a sense, everyone still calls me by my real name…" She explained, rubbing her neck.

He seemed to understand now.

"That's why Kai reacted like that, he was surprised I still kept my name after all these years. They want me back now. It's not something to be proud of, but nobody made drugs quite as flawlessly as I did. I guess business isn't as amazing as it used to be." She muttered, letting out a long whoosh of air from her lungs.

"And they'll come for me, they will like I went after them. After I finished making drugs for them, I demanded that my brother be free. But at the time, he was so drugged up, by the drugs I made, me. When they released him, Uncle shot him in the head. He died before he even hit the floor. I was so shocked that I just sat there and cried for hours. I didn't know what to do, so I called Takashi. He came in on the next flight, and we cremated my brother. The next week, I sent Kai a message. I told them I was coming for them. And I did, I killed all of Uncle's advisors and the corrupted drug makers before they even knew what hit them. But Kai had heard the commotion and brought his men. They were all over the place, and I managed to hit his ankle, permanently giving him a limp. Takashi had taken a bullet for me during the crossfire, but we managed to get away. The Triads system was crippled for months, since they had ruling system, nor any drugs to sell since nobody was making them. Takashi and I fled Hong Kong after that, I haven't really looked back since."

"So why now? Why would that cause you to avoid me?"

Meiko sighed exasperatedly, "Don't you see, Han? When gangs say they're coming for you, they don't just come after you. They come after anybody important to you. I don't have any blood relatives left. But Takashi is protected by the Yakuza, and Kamata goes without saying."

She started grabbing at her hair, throwing her latte in a nearby trashcan. Forcefully clamping her hands around the pier rails, the sounds of her rings clanged harshly against the steel. Her voice gradually grew shrill, "And who do you have? Yakuza won't protect you, especially since Kamata found out you've been stealing from him! Don't you get that? If they find out that you're important to me, they won't hesitate in using you for hostage. I can't have them do that! I won't let them! I-"

Meiko grew silent as she felt Han's chest cover her back.

"Why are you so worried about me, Mei?" Han said lowly, breathing into her ear. His breath sent shivers down her back, causing her to lean further into him; relishing in the warmth that his body provided against the chilly autumn air.

"I won't be able to protect you, Han. I don't want an innocent life to be lost because of me. I can't let any more blood be spilt by my hands."

She was shaking like a leaf at this point, not being able to keep her body still. Han noticed, her shaking sending vibrations through his body. He rubbed his hands against her arms in attempts to warm her, to calm her down from the panic attack he knew she would have if she kept her mind in overdrive. Without warning, he turned her around and claimed her lips. And despite her shaking, his strong hands held her face still until her shaking completely calmed. He put his forehead down to hers, both leaning against each other in silence. Han slowly leaned down to sit against his Mazda, with Mei following suit, gazes unwavering.

Slower this time, Han covered her lips with his. Breath mingling, his hands roamed from her shoulders to her back, down to her waist before easily lifting her into his lap. Gaining confidence, Mei deepened the kiss, pushing her body further into his, running her hands through his hair. Licking his lips, asking for entrance, Han was quick to comply, tongues dancing together, a fight of dominance, which Han won. Air was becoming scarce, but Mei retracted herself from the kiss, only to smile into it. Both were breathing heavily at this point, completely thrown back by the intensity they had just experienced.

"So what happens now?" She whispered.

Han didn't speak, brushing Mei's hair behind her ear. A million thoughts were speeding through Mei's mind.

What just happened?

How did it come to this?

Were we friends?

Were we something more?

"Where does this leave us, Han?"

"Together."

And that was enough for her.

* * *

**Please review with your thoughts!**


	9. Chapter IX: City of Dreams

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I WILL NOT BE IN THE COUNTRY TO UPDATE THE STORY FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. I WILL BE IN JAPAN AND HONG KONG, STUDYING ABROAD. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS & COMMENTS SO I'LL HAVE SOMETHING TO READ WHEN I GET ACCESS TO WIFI AGAIN. I WON'T BE UPDATING TILL I GET AT LEAST 10 REVIEWS.**

**City of Dreams Ft. Ruben Haze by Dirty South & Alesso**

**City of Dreams Ft. Ruben Haze by Dirty South & Alesso**

**City of Dreams Ft. Ruben Haze by Dirty South & Alesso**

Mei was a bit lost the following weeks after telling Han her life story. It had been two weeks, and she hadn't heard from him since. Granted, she hadn't called or texted him either, but she felt that she shouldn't have to; she was the girl in the relationship, or whatever it was that the two were. Had she put her trust in the wrong person? If he could betray Takashi, who's to say he wouldn't betray her as well…? Her mind was beginning to go into overdrive until Takashi texted her.

_Races tonight. After party at Azure. _

_ Morimoto will pick you up. _

Han was seriously giving her mixed signals. How could he be so understanding and sweet, kissing her and all that translate to not speaking to her for two weeks after that? Rubbing her temples, she continued to fill out paperwork as her other hand searched her table drawer for aspirin. She desperately needed a release from the stress; from Han, from work, and this killer headache. Besides, she had the weekend off; she deserved to dance her worries away.

Mei applied the finishing touches of makeup to her face. Her skin looked tanned and flawless with a sultry smokey eye, intensified by a dark cat-winged eyeliner. She carefully applied the matte red lipstick to make sure the color perfectly went along the lines of her cupid's bow. Looking in the mirror, she had to admit she looked amazing. The tight black dress she wore accentuated her curves in all the right places, from showing off her tiny waist to her long legs. It seemed classier than what all the other racer chasers wore since her dress had tight long sleeves. She wore sky high Louboutins, a sparkly gold heel with blood red soles to give her outfit a simple pop of color. Throwing on her rose gold watch, she grabbed her phone and went out the door to meet Morimoto.

Getting downstairs, she saw Morimoto leaning against his Nissan Fairlady 350Z. Hearing the click of her heels approaching, Morimoto looked up from the ground and instantly smiled at her.

"I forget how stunning you are sometimes."

She winked jokingly, sliding smoothly into Morimoto's car as he stepped on the gas, speeding off to the races.

At the race, beautiful cars littered the place. Takashi was easy to spot in the throng of people, Morimoto holding Mei's hand, leading her through the crowds. Takashi, upon seeing how dressed up Mei was, nodded in approval, twirling her around for effect. She rolled her eyes as she sat down on the hood of his car besides him. Neela was nowhere in sight. Almost sensing her question, Takashi answered her heatedly.

"She's probably with the tourist."

Mei couldn't help but sigh, she expected it, and at the same time, she didn't. Neela had been Takashi for such a long time that she didn't remember a time they weren't together. Maybe it was for the better.

"I, however, have a solution." She clapped her hands together, "I have a friend-"

Takashi cut her off, "I can find my own girl, Mei."

She gave him a look, "Just this once, Kashi. I promise you'll like her. If not, I will personally buy you any car of your liking."

That piqued his interests, raising an eyebrow at her boldness. "You seem to be very sure that I will like this friend of yours."

She only smiled as she got off the top of his car, "She'll give you a run for your money in terms of fire. I'll be right back."

With a determined look on her face, she went off to look for her fellow nurse friend, Rika. She was definitely on par with Takashi in terms of fire. The girl took shit from nobody and when she knew what she wanted, she went out and got it, no matter what it took. Rika was a mixed Japanese-Chinese beauty, and Mei had a feeling Takashi had a thing for mixed girls, Rika fit the criteria perfectly. Looking through the crowd, she quickly found her flirting with some poor guy who thought he had a chance.

"Hey, Rika! Come here, I have someone I want you to meet."

Rika looked at her, smiled widely and was quick to shove the no-named guy back to his car and went over to Mei.

"I haven't seen you in a while! We haven't had shifts together, Mei! I've missed you! Now who's this stud you want me to meet?"

She dragged Rika off in the opposite direction.

"Takashi, I would like you to meet Rika Ogawa." Pushing Rika towards Takashi, Mei had a feeling she didn't even need to. The way Rika was eyeing Takashi up and down was a total giveaway that she found him attractive. Then again, she always did like the whole bad-boy persona.

"Why not play cupid for yourself, sweetheart?"

Mei whirled around to find an attractive man looking at her curiously.

"And you are…?"

"My name's Shin. What's yours, beautiful?"

She nearly rolled her eyes at the forward manner in which he spoke.

"Call me Meiko."

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Han quietly seething at the sight of her and this new incomer while the model at his side clawed for his attention. Shin shook her hand and she immediately began to flirt with him, knowing Han was watching. About half an hour later, Mei came to actually enjoy Shin's company. He was humorous and witty; he could keep up a decent conversation.

"I'm a forward person, Meiko. Here's my number. I hope you don't have a boyfriend. It'd be a shame." He whispered into her ear, slipping a piece of paper into her hand as he kissed the side of her lips.

"See you around, Shin."

She waved him off as she walked back to Takashi and Morimoto, smirking at Han on her way back. Standing around, she was glad to find that Rika was on Takashi's lap, each with a beer in hand. Morimoto grabbed her a beer as he stood besides her, leaning on his Nissan. Apparently, he had a race with the same guy from a few months back, the one who gave him his head injury; the same night she met Han. Something about stampeding his ego into the dirt.

Suddenly, a girl from out of nowhere smacked Meiko's beer out of her hands, smashing loudly onto the parking lot floor.

"You bitch! Stay away from Shin! He's mine!"

Mei folded her arms and stared at the racer chaser amusedly, waiting for her to finish her ranting. During the yelling, the entire lot had quieted down to a mere murmur, wondering what the commotion was about. It was no secret that Meiko was associated with the higher ups in the Yakuza. Some were wondering if this girl had a death wish or did she really not know who Meiko was. When she finished rambling, Mei spoke up.

"If you're done making a fool of yourself, you may leave." She mocked.

At this point, the girl was turning red in the face. "I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but you can't talk to me like that! You better throw that number away and never speak to him again if you know what's good for you!" She yelled, putting her hands on her hips.

Mei sighed, "I don't care that you want to be this man's bitch. You can have his number back if you wish, I have no use for it," The girl grabbed it from her outstretched palm before Mei continued, "However, I mind quite terribly that you blatantly disrespected me while I have never disrespected you. If your boy toy is bored with you, I really don't think it's my fault. I don't see your claim on him, so I really think he's free game. You can't blame me for being more interesting, can you? But I think it would be fair if you bought me back the beer you so rudely knocked out of my hand. Don't you?"

The girl was grinding her teeth by now, launching herself at Mei. But Morimoto caught the crazed girl in time, holding her back. Mei, on the other hand, hadn't flinched, still standing as composed as ever as more of Morimoto's men held her back. Morimoto straightened himself back out, smoothing over his clothes to stand back next to Mei. He placed his hand at the curve of her back, his way of asking if she was alright.

"You know, little girls shouldn't pick fights they can't handle." She said over her shoulder.

"Oh yeah? I challenge you to a race then!" The girl retorted.

Mei instantly turned around with a wide smile on her face and a light in her eyes. Takashi and Morimoto grinned; they knew Mei could never turn down a challenge. She would never challenge anyone, she liked seeing others challenge her; thinking she couldn't drift. And she relished in proving them wrong, every time.

"I accept. Car-for-car."

The girl seemed thrown off at how quickly Mei had responded, but agreed. Takashi threw his keys easily to Mei, catching it; she looped her slim fingers in the keyhole, swinging it around casually. The girl almost laughed at Mei.

"Winning the car of the Drift King? How perfect."

Mei only bit her lip and smiled in anticipation of how sweet her victory would be.

Han curiously watched the entire situation unfold before him. From when Shin had started flirting with Mei to when Takashi threw his keys over to her. In the years that Han knew Takashi, he never would've guessed that he would hand his car over to anybody. The crazed racer chaser seemed confident in winning, yet Takashi had easily handed his keys over to Mei. It made him wonder if Mei was as good of a drifter as Takashi. Growing up with the Yakuza, she had to know how to drift, but how well, was another story.

He knew that Mei had seen him with the model currently hanging all over him, with her retaliating by openly flirting with another man in front of him. A searing jealousy had run through him seeing Mei being near Shin, but at the same time, he couldn't blame her. After all, his tongue was stuck down the model's throat. He couldn't help it, he was so used to it. He was a playboy; he went from woman to woman and never regretted it. It didn't feel normal to be tied down to one girl. He knew it wasn't an excuse either, but it just happened. Beyond curious, he went off to join the others to see how Mei would drift.

In Takashi's Nissan, Mei felt around the wheel, reacquainting herself with the car. She had been in his car numerous times, driving it a few times as well. The power under the hood of his car was unbelievable. It might be odd to others, but she was definitely turned on by a powerful car. Looking through her window, she saw Takashi give her a nod, his way of saying good luck. He was quickly pre-occupied by Rika though; she smiled to herself, shaking her head. A random racer chaser stood at the ready with her arms raised.

The racer chaser pointed to her left, "Ready!"

Eyes ahead.

Pointing to the right, "Setto!"

Engines revving.

Arms on their way down, "Go!"

Both drivers raced off through the parking lot.

In no time, Mei made her way to the top of the lot with the other girl screeching in. By that time, Mei had already gotten out of the car, being congratulated by Takashi, Morimoto and Rika. The girl stepped out of her car in a huff, angrily throwing her keys at Mei's face before stomping off away from the crowd. It would've hit her face if Takashi's reflexes weren't as quick as they were, catching it right before it collided with her face. He handed her the keys gently.

"Good job, Mei. Nice to see you didn't scratch my car."

"Kashi, I'm offended. You know I would never. Besides, I'm a much better drifter than you are, DK. I should be the Drift Queen, if anything. Anyway, I have no use for this car; it was just to make a point. Here, take it. Do what you will with it."

She laughed, throwing her newly won car keys back at Takashi. Morimoto tossed an arm around her shoulder, wrapping her into a hug, kissing her forehead.

"Good job, Princess."

Due to her short stature, she just kissed his neck. She couldn't reach his cheek anyway.

"Yosh! Let's go drink to celebrate your win!"

Azure was a nightclub that Mei particularly liked. The layout of the club was perfect, and there was a secret sky garden she discovered years ago when she needed to clear her head and take a breather. That and the bartender knew exactly how to mix drinks the way she wanted, God bless that man.

"Hey Hideki! The usual, please!" She greeted the bartender.

"Damn, Mei. You clean up real good." Twinkie whistled.

"Thanks, Twink. You look good too, you could ALMOST pass off as legal." she joked, grabbing her drink from Hideki.

He frowned, knowing he wasn't old enough to drink legally.

"But because I'm in a good mood, I'll buy you a drink."

Twinkie's eyes lit up at the prospect of someone buying him a drink.

"Something not so strong, I don't need you passing out on the side of the street, kid."

Hideki laughed good-naturedly at Mei as he grabbed a beer for Twinkie.

"Thanks, Mei." Twinkie said excitedly, chugging the beer down.

"No problem, Twink. Anytime. Have you seen Han?"

At the question, Twinkie winced; not daring to meet her eyes. But Mei had already seen Han in one of the higher open lounges, with models hanging off of him on each side. Twinkie saw her rolling her eyes and tried to defend Han.

"Look, I'm not really sure what's going on. But I know Han legitimately likes you, Mei. I think he just has some things to figure out." He said nervously, anxiously tapping at his bottle. She laughed, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I can handle myself, I don't know if he can though." She downed her drink, making her way across the dance floor as she ran fingers through her wavy hair. Eyes followed her every move as she strode purposefully in Han's direction. She was a woman determined to find out what her relationship with Han was, if one could even call it that.

Han was oblivious to the fact that Mei was standing in front of him. He was too busy making out with a model to notice. However, the other model seemed to recognize Mei and got off Han's lap, nodding quickly to Mei before leaving. She was smart, the other one locked lips with Han, wasn't. Mei tapped the girl on her shoulder to get her attention.

"You'll have to excuse me. I need to speak with Han."

The model detached herself from Han's face as she scoffed at Mei, looking her up and down.

"No, I do mind. You can fuck off."

"I strongly suggest you reconsider your attitude because I'm not in a very forgiving mood as of now. I can end you with one call."

The model flipped her hair, "Han, tell this slut to go away."

Mei inspected her perfectly manicured nails nonchalantly, "That wasn't a negotiation, you know. How pitiful it would be if no modeling agency in Japan books you again."

When Han was unresponsive to the model's words, Mei lost her patience. With a quick flick of her wrist, she fiercely struck Han across the face.

"I trusted you. Guess I put it in the wrong person." Looking at the model, she laughed at her shocked face, "Thanks to your new friend Han, you're out of a job in Tokyo. Be careful of who you're offending next time around. Good luck." With that, she turned on her heel, striding quickly towards the Sky Garden to take a breather, not staying around to see what happened after.

After Mei had stalked off, Han got up to go after her, leaving the model alone in the lounge seats. He wove around the mass of people, pushing through some, to get to Mei. Seeing Han closing in, Mei swiftly maneuvered herself further away from him, ducking behind some club goers, attempting to lose Han. However, he was more determined to find her than she was to lose him.

She thought she finally lost him as she stepped into the Sky Garden, leaning against the rail, looking over the city. Hearing the sliding door open, she instantly looked at the intruder. Seeing that it was Han, she narrowed her eyes, looking for another way out. When she realized there was none, she tried walking past Han to get back into the club, away from him. But he blocked her way.

"Mei, just calm down." He chastised, holding her from leaving.

She whipped her head to him, "Calm down, Han? You're telling me to calm down? No. Fuck you. This is exactly what I get when I put my trust in someone. It gets thrown back in my face. I literally spilled my entire fucking life story to you, and what do I get? You pretend I don't exist for a month and you shove your tongue down some girl's throat. If you didn't care, you could've had the decency to fucking tell me. God, was that so fucking difficult?" She accused, moving around him again.

Han held on tightly this time, a hand grabbed onto each arm, facing her. "Mei, just listen to me." She just kept struggling against his hold, trying to escape until Han couldn't take it anymore.

He finally yelled, "MEI!"

That caught her attention. Han's voice was never above monotone. Him yelling froze her in place, not daring to move. To be honest, him yelling reminded her a lot of Kai, causing her to shrink back against the wall, wincing. Han realized this, and his tone instantly softened, "Shit. I'm sorry, Mei. I didn't mean to yell." He murmured, putting his forehead against hers.

Slowly lifting his head from hers, he looked at her still wide eyes.

"Look, I'm really sorry, Mei. I just don't know what's happening right now. I've never had anything stable in my life before. I've never been tied down to a girl. So this is new to me. I know that isn't an excuse for any of the shit I've done that really hurt you, but I really am sorry. I don't know how, but just give me a chance; I'll make it up to you. I'll show you that you didn't put your trust in the wrong person. Please, Mei. Just one chance, that's all I'm asking for."

She opened her mouth to speak, but words wouldn't come out. She desperately wanted to trust Han. And with every decision she made regarding Han, she threw caution to the wind. It was infuriating how much of an impact this man made on her. She couldn't help it, she had fallen for Han, and she fell hard.

Leaning into the planes of Han's chest, she buried her face into the crook of his neck, and whispered a barely audible, "One chance. That's it."

But Han had heard it, and that's all that mattered to him. He kissed the top of her forehead, "Thank you. You won't regret it."

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I WILL NOT BE IN THE COUNTRY TO UPDATE THE STORY FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS. I WILL BE IN JAPAN AND HONG KONG, STUDYING ABROAD. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS & COMMENTS SO I'LL HAVE SOMETHING TO READ WHEN I GET ACCESS TO WIFI AGAIN. I WON'T BE UPDATING TILL I GET AT LEAST 10 REVIEWS.**


	10. UPDATE QUESTION

**Would you guys want a mature chapter?**

**Basically, a sex scene or lemon etc. whatever you want to call it.**

**I'm not sure if I should incorporate it into chapter 10.**

**Please let me know via review and I will post it with ASAP.**


	11. Chapter X: Wicked Games

**Wicked Games by The Weeknd  
Wicked Games by The Weeknd  
Wicked Games by The Weeknd  
**

Han woke up, squinting, as a ray of sunlight just happened to hit his eyes. Looking down to his side, he found Mei curled up into his chest like a cat. It was a nice change, not waking up alone. They didn't have sex last night, and Han found himself being completely content with the fact. This was a new side of him he was discovering.

He was so used to models littering the garage, meaningless sex every night, and them leaving in the morning. He wouldn't even know the girl's name, and he used to be alright with that. But ever since Mei, he didn't want that. He just wanted her, to spend time with her, to see her smile. He wasn't sure what this feeling was, but it was new. It was new, and he didn't mind. Stroking her hair, she made a small noise, leaning closer to the source of the warmth.

Finally waking up, it took her a few moments to comprehend where she was.

"Morning, sunshine."

Looking up, Han smiled down at her as she made a noise of disgust, turning away from the sunlight and further burying her face into Han's chest. He chuckled, sending vibrations through his chest, fully waking up Mei. It took her a little bit to realize where she was before she glanced at her watch.

"I like this, I like us." She whispered.

"I do too."

She suddenly sat up, looking seriously at Han. "I'm a girl that's in for a long term relationship. I don't want to be just another girl you've slept with for a fling or a one-night stand. I can't be some trophy girl hook-up, Han."

"Mei, trust me when I say I want this. I want you, I want us. I want a relationship and I want it with you. I need you to keep me in line, you know? I think that's why I've never dated. Girls just threw themselves at me, never disagreeing with me, but not you. You're fiery, you give me attitude, you're not afraid to challenge me, and you keep me sane; which is pretty nice."

This caused Mei to inwardly smile as she laid back on Han's chiseled chest. He relished at the way her petite form molded perfectly into his, locking together like a puzzle piece. Glancing around the room, he noticed numerous things. For one, it was filled with her, not in the egotistical sense, but everything in the room exuded Mei. There were numerous polaroids with her friends, along with Takashi and Morimoto, as well as one with Kamata smiling as Mei squished her wide grin mashed next to his face. That was definitely a picture he never thought he would see. Little souvenirs from places she traveled to decorated the room; an elephant sculpture from Thailand, a small coffee bean sack from Italy, a drawing from a child in Kenya, the pieces were endless. These were all people, places and things that were important to her. And Han wanted to be a part of the wall. He wanted to be important to Mei.

Looking out her bedroom window, it had a great view of the city's hustle and bustle.

"Japan is such a beautiful place, and yet, no matter how many places I've been to, it's the one place I haven't got a chance to explore. How ironic, I don't even know about my own home."

"Then let's get to know your home."

She glanced up, eyed wide, giving him a confused look. He only smiled.

"Come on, Mei. I'll take you out."

"Alright. Show me around, Mr. Tour Guide."

* * *

"And there's two stones, twenty feet apart from each other, it's said that if you could walk from one stone to the other with your eyes closed and feel the stone, you would be able to find true love."

Han had taken Mei to numerous locations, the last being in the Jishu shrine in Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto. She was surprised at the amount of history he knew behind every place he took her. The fervor he spoke with was unlike his normal monotone, it was the way his eyes would smile when he spoke about something that fascinated him that got to her. It was a new Han she never witnessed before and it was completely enthralling. It made her want to kiss him so badly, and that's exactly what she did.

In the middle of the busy street, she grabbed his collar with both hands, and leaned up to mold her lips to his. Pressing her body to his, she was thankful she had worn heels so that kissing him was that much easier despite their height difference. Han was slightly thrown off at how suddenly she kissed him, but he quickly adjusted, tightly holding her waist to him. The pair was blithely unaware of their surroundings, so caught up in each other, their attention only focused on the other. At last, air became scarce, forcing the two apart.

"Not that I mind, but what was that for?"

"Because I felt like it." Mei said, exhaling.

Han smiled, "Well, I can't deny your urges, Princess."

"Good, because there isn't anything you can do about it anyway." She smirked, dragging his arm in the direction of a food stand.

* * *

"I can't believe it."

Mei swallowed another red bean pastry before answering Han, "Can't believe what?"

He glanced from the copious amounts of pastries and snacks in her hand back to her face, "The amount of snacks you eat, and you weigh as much as a 12 year old boy. Not to mention the entire backseat of your snacks put a huge hole in my wallet."

She threw a gummy at him, "The King of Snacking calling me fat?"

"I don't think so, old man," she laughed, poking at his stomach.

"Touche, but this stomach is a cement block, alright?"

Mei rolled her eyes before getting serious again, "How long has it been?"

Han sighed, taking a sharp right turn, "Two years. Quitting cigarettes are never easy. And you, princess, sometimes don't make it easy. You stress me out."

Her mouth dropped, "Excuse you – "

"In a good way, Mei. You keep me on my toes. I've never had that. I like that you stress me out." He said reassuringly, putting his hand over hers. With one hand on the wheel, he leaned over, kissing her on the cheek as he made another turn.

Arriving at a busy street, Han quickly parked his car, swiftly gliding his hand into Mei's as they stepped on the pavement. Noticing her bright smile at the action, he couldn't help but reciprocate. Here was this beautiful creature standing before him, dragging him to some store he could care less about, but he felt lucky about it nonetheless. Maybe it was because he was finally starting to realize that she was really too good for him, inside and out, she was a good person, yet she chose him for reasons unbeknownst to him. He was glad, though, he felt an honest kind of happy he hadn't felt in a long time. As cliché as it sounded, he could be himself around her, without inhibitions, it was liberating.

Her tiny hands tugged at his, which completely engulfed hers, dragging him to a store selling dresses. She stood at the window examining the dresses and Han would try to drag her in, but she would dart in the other direction to another store. She knew Han would buy the dress she was eyeing, no questions asked, if she even walked into the store. She didn't need any extra clothing, and she wasn't about to let Han pay for it. Passing by a jewelry store, she eyed a golden locket for a little while, quickly walking away again, but not before Han noticed. The pair continued their walk down the street, chatting about the shops and food until they approached a guitar shop. She looked up at Han childishly, almost asking if they could go in. He gave her a slight nudge and she barged in excitedly.

Letting go of Han's hand, he felt strangely empty. She went to examine the different guitars, strumming and picking at each one, as if looking for a certain one. Upon finding one she deemed decent, she sat down on a stool, motioning for Han to sit near her on another stool.

"I haven't been able to play the guitar for the longest time. Work is so consuming! Well, that and I haven't got myself one yet."

"You know how to play?"

"A little. A friend taught me some a long time ago."

Strumming a few chords, she chuckled, "I'm a bit rusty though."

Carefully plucking a few more times, she began to play. And soon enough, she began to quietly sing in a language he couldn't understand.

_"Mais qui est ce qui m'a dit que toujours tu m'aimais?_

_Je ne me souviens plus c'était tard dans la nuit,_

_J'entend encore la voix, mais je ne vois plus les traits_

_Il vous aime, c'est secret, lui dites pas que j'vous l'ai dit_

_Tu vois quelqu'un m'a dit..."_

She slowly drifted off as the song came to an end, and people in the guitar shop started clapping. Turning a bright red, she hid herself behind Han's shoulder.

"Oh wow, this is embarrassing. I didn't know I sang that loudly." She murmured.

Han chuckled, placing the guitar to the side. When the applause died down, he turned to her, "I didn't know you spoke French."

"I don't," she replied bluntly, "I can only sing songs in French."

He grinned widely at her answer; it took him by surprise, yet at the same time, it didn't. He wasn't surprised that she was musically inclined, nor would he be surprised if she actually spoke French, yet the way she presented herself throughout the time there was so uniquely her, the way she bluntly told him she honestly couldn't speak French, it just, it made him smile.

An old man, presumably the owner, ushering them out, interrupted his train of thought "If you no buy, you leave. Go go."

Turning to Mei, he found her to be missing. Walking out of the guitar shop, she was leaning on a car, smiling impishly at him. He towered over her, putting his arms on each side of her petite frame, trapping her between him and the car.

"You know, Mei, I find it really hot how you told off the girls the other night." He whispered, staring at her face.

She instantly rolled her eyes, "Really, now. I can't imagine why."

"I can show you," he mumbled, eyeing her neck, slowly dragging his lips across it. He languidly let his tongue escape every so often, going around in a thin trail around her neck. She visibly whispered, causing Han to smirk. Unable to take it any longer, she grabbed Han's chin with her petite hands, forcing his face to be eye level with hers. Staring at his lips for a millisecond, she crashed her lips onto his.

Han was surprised. It wasn't her usual sweet, innocent kisses. This was rough, filled with want, and eagerness. He tangled his hands into her long, wavy tresses, pulling her entire being closer to his. She felt the heat travel all over her body, putting both hands on either sides of his jawline, wanting there to be no space between them. She wanted him in ways she never thought she could want a man before. They stopped only when a passerby wolf-whistled, breaking apart, the two were out of breath.

He was breathing heavy, staring at her, trying to figure her out when her demeanor suddenly changed, her innocent, out of breath look quickly morphed into a seductive temptress, with her biting her lip slightly.

"Han, let's go back to your place."

He looked slightly taken aback, "If you're sure, Mei. I don't want to force you into anything you're not comfortable with."

She leaned into his neck, slightly blowing into his ear before whispering, "I want you. Now."

He didn't need her to say it twice; he instantly lifted her off the stranger's car, dragging her in the direction of his car.

* * *

Mei's POV

Once back at Han's, I couldn't keep my hands off of Han. Getting to his room, he shut the door with a thud. I felt my back hit his bed, with him slowly crawling on top of me. He instantly started kissing at my neck as I began to lift his shirt over his head. Once I flung his shirt across the room, he wasted no time unzipping the back of my dress, nearly tearing it off my body.

When my dress was off, I managed to flip Han over, straddling his waist as he sat up to have better access to my neck. Flipping my long hair to one side, he nipped at my neck, sucking at what happened to be one of my sensitive spots, causing me to let out a low, breathy moan. Han smirked at the sudden sound, furthering his actions, running his hands all over my back, expertly unhooking my bra, letting it fall to the side. Placing his hand on the small of my back, Han ran his tongue over my breast, my eyes rolling to the back of my head as I mewled his name, furthering his lust as he forcefully ripped my lace panties off. His hands roamed my body, lightly squeezing my hips as his lips continued south, kissing and sucking at my inner thighs. I groaned, frustrated that he was intentionally avoiding the one area that desperately needed his attention.

I felt his smirk against my thigh as he slowly dragged a finger on the outer folds of my slit. He grabbed my thighs off the bed, pulling me close to his face. My head tossed back as Han quickly licked at my folds. Tugging at his covers, I nearly collapsed when he took my clit into his mouth, sucking on it hard. The combination of him sucking and quickly releasing my clit while his tongue swirled around it nearly sent me off the edge, but it was a whole new sensation as he inserted his right index finger into me. I felt myself instantly getting wetter, my moans becoming louder with the added stimulation. Then he slid in his middle finger, pumping them in and out in a fluid motion. Wrapping my legs tighter around him, my orgasm shook my entire body as I came undone.

Han watched as I struggled to catch my breath, looking smug as all hell, but once I began to breathe normally again, he stole my breath away by giving me a searing kiss. I groaned against his lips and slid my right hand down to his hard manhood. His hips jumped from my touch; I rubbed my thumb over the tip and down his rock-hard shaft. He softly groaned from my slow hand job, but I let go and stopped kissing him as he leaned over to grab a condom from his side drawer. After he put on a condom, he quickly came back over to where I was on the bed.

He climbed back on top of me and rubbed the tip of his head up and down my soaked folds. I groaned at the feeling and ran my hands up and down his sides and back. He circled my folds several times before slowly pushing his tip in. I moaned directly into his left ear while he slowly slid two more inches in, slid out, then slid back in, but added an inch.

"Oh—oh stop for a second."

Han looked worried, "Are you alright?"

He complied, as I slowly exhaled from the pleasure and my burning desire while I slowly readjusted my hips and loosely wrapped my legs around the middle of his torso. He wiggled a bit, which slid him even deeper than before. I groaned and arched up a few inches. I scratched at his shoulder blades before looking into his deep brown eyes and whispered,

"Don't stop, I want every last inch of you."

He groaned in compliance and kissed the base of my neck and my collarbone. He teased me for a few more thrusts, but I pumped my hips up while he slid into me, causing us both to shudder and groan. He began to pump all eight inches of his thick, hard manhood in and out; he was slow at first, but the louder and more intense my moans became, the harder and faster he fucked me. I couldn't help but to tighten my legs around him and slam my hips up to meet him. He took advantage of my back arching to kiss and suck at my breasts; I shook and screamed out when he moved to the left. He kept fucking at my sweet spot and kissed anywhere he could while I moaned and groaned out his name. It didn't take long after he discovered my sweet spot for me to dig my nails into his back and moan out.

Han's thick manhood rubbed my sensitive pussy walls while his tip continuously rubbed my sweet spot. His breathing was deep and loud as he groaned out my name. I came almost immediately; shaking against him, as I wrapped my legs around him like a steel bow, enjoying the earthquake-like spasms my orgasm flooded my body with, the same spasms that tightened around Han's manhood, forcing his own violent orgasm. He collapsed after his climax, rolling me on top of him as he panted into my neck, and I, onto his, for several minutes until we regained our breath. He turned his head to face me, and kissed my forehead.

I smiled as I noticed that the entire night, there was only one thing that came out of his mouth. It wasn't Princess, or any other nicknames he gave to anybody else, it was just Mei. Turning over, I felt him pull my body to his, as I curled up into him.

* * *

**SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE.**  
**I'VE BEEN BUSY WITH MY STUDIES.**  
**I PROMISE TO UPDATE FASTER WITH THE NEXT CHAPTER.**  
**REVIEWS, PLEASE. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.**

Note: The French song I mentioned Mei was singing is called "Quelqu'un M'a Dit" by Carla Bruni


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